When Did Things Get Complicated?
by Vehemently Yours
Summary: [A/U-Inu/Kag] Inu-Yasha is the prince of the demon realm and Kagome is the princess of the human realm. They've been friends since they were little. Inevitably, as they grow up, things get complicated. War and death separate them but not for long...
1. I: Lost in the Forest

            A/N-Hmm…I should be writing an English paper right now, but who wants to do that when you can write an Inu-Yasha fic instead? Besides, this idea is going to make my head explode if I don't get it out of my head now. This is an A/U fic where there are pretty much two kingdoms: that of the demons, and that of the mortals. Kagome is the daughter of the king of the realm of the mortals and Inu-Yasha, the son of the king of the realm of the dancing munchkins. Just kidding! The realm of the demons! Hah, had you there for a minute didn't I? Hmm, I'm afraid I can't explain it more than that so just read.

            Disclaimer: I don't own this stuff. It belongs to Rumiko Takahashi (Can you believe word processor doesn't underline Rumiko Takahashi in red, saying I spelled it wrong? It usually does that for Japanese names…)

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"Kagome! Come back! Where are you going?" Kagome's mother, Kikyo, asked, or rather, demanded when Kagome tried to sneak out of the room. Her mother was sewing something. Kagome didn't even know what it was. Kagome's sewing sat on the chair by the fire where she had quietly set it down. Kagome couldn't even remember what she was sewing. At one point she knew, but somewhere along the line, after so many tangles and so many needles jabbing into her thumb, she had forgotten what it was supposed to be.

Kagome had been hoping that her mother was so engrossed in her own work that she wouldn't notice if Kagome snuck away. That plan was sort of out the window now.

"Look at this child!" her mother exclaimed, picking up Kagome's work. She held it up. "What is this? Do you see why you need the practice?" When Kagome's mother looked up from frowning at Kagome's sewing, Kagome was gone. She sighed. It was no use going after her. Kagome had this way of making sure that if she didn't want to be found, no one would find her. She told herself that later, when Kagome got back, she would make Kagome sit at her sewing for two hours with guards posted at the doors. She knew she wouldn't really do that though.

Kagome sighed and breathed in deeply. She was so happy to be outside. The sun was shining and there was a clear blue May sky with not a cloud in sight, just blue. She felt bad for just leaving Mama like that but if she had to endure any more sewing or studies for another minute, she would've screamed. She needed the fresh air. 

Kagome was seven years old but she was already well educated. Her father had always been very big on education and schooling and always made sure his children were getting the best education he could offer, which was a pretty good one since he was king. Yes, Kagome was a princess, though she didn't really want to be. Truth be told, she preferred the village and playing with the village children to sitting inside and doing arithmetic and sewing.   

Kagome had one older brother and one younger sister. Her older brother, Shidosha, had always studied very hard because he would be the one to sit upon the throne when their father died. He made sure to visit the all of the villages, even the smaller villages every once in awhile in order to know the people that would one day be his people. Kagome thought that he would make a great king someday, just as great a king as their father was. Kagome was glad she wasn't the heir to the throne because she didn't want it. Right now, Shidosha was probably with her father in his study, discussing the demons. The neighboring kingdom, mostly inhabited by demons, except for a few brave mortals who lived there, was not trusted by her father's kingdom. Her father's kingdom had left them well alone and vice versa, but there were always whispers that the demons were planning something since they were so quiet. Ten years ago, a lord's daughter was given to the demon king for marriage in hopes to ensure a peace treaty between the two kingdoms. After she died in childbed, it became an uneasy peace, but it was peace for the time being. Even so, her father always made sure he was ready if his kingdom were ever attacked. Her little sister, Hachimitsu, was only three years old, not old enough to take lessons yet, something Kagome envied about her. 

Kagome was glad to get away from her father's castle, even though she would get into big trouble when she finally returned, but until then, she could enjoy the outdoors. There was a wall surrounding her father's castle and since she couldn't exactly walk through the main gates, right past the guards, she walked along the wall until she came to a section of the wall towards the back that was covered in ivy vines. She climbed up the ivy, and back down on the other side. She had always been a very good climber. After she was on the other side of the wall, she headed for the nearest village where she often played with some of the children there. 

When she walked into the village, she spotted a small group of her friends playing with a ball nearby.

"Kagome! Come and play with us!" one of her friends, Sango called.

Kagome gladly accepted and soon she was having fun with her friends, passing a ball back and forth, giggling and laughing the entire time. 

"You're going to have to scoot back really really really far to catch this one!" Kagome shouted, throwing the ball high in the air.

Her friends ran back but not fast enough because the ball landed behind them and rolled into the forest right outside the village. Her friends just stood there, looking at the spot in the underbrush the ball had disappeared too. 

Kagome frowned and walked over there. "Aren't we going to get the ball?"

"No! We can't go in there! That's the forest that separates the demon lands from ours," one of her friends said fearfully. "We can't! A demon will eat us!"

Kagome remembered hearing about this forest from her father. It was a vast expanse of forest that was half in the demon kingdom, half in the mortal kingdom. Everyone avoided going in there for fear of encountering a demon who had perhaps wandered past the boundaries. Kagome had always been just as afraid of demons as everyone else but the ball was just barely in the forest, perhaps two steps into it! 

Kagome brushed past her friends and headed into the forest. 

"Kagome! You can't go in there! Remember the demons!" another one of her friends called to her, but she had already disappeared into the forest. At first, the children didn't know what to do but then they glanced at each other fearfully and ran away.

Kagome meanwhile, was searching for the ball. She wandered around some of the bushes and finally found the red ball and picked it up. 

"I found it!" she called. When no one answered, she turned and began to walk out of the forest, or at least she thought she was heading out of the forest. At some point in her search for the ball, she had mixed up her sense of direction and, after about fifteen more minutes of walking, she still hadn't come out of the forest, so she turned around and went the other way. She wandered for so long after that, she lost track of the time and seeing that she was still in the forest, Kagome began to get worried. She was lost, and being lost in these woods was dangerous. You would either wander around and around until you starved and died, or you'd get eaten by a demon and you'd die anyway. Kagome began to wonder which one she would prefer. Being eaten by a demon would be a lot quicker than dying of starvation, but would it be more painful? Kagome shook her head to clear these sorts of thoughts. She was going to get out of the forest. She wasn't going to die in here. 

She walked through the forest and tried to find a tree she recognized but they all looked the same. Nest she tried to find her tracks by seeing which bushes and grasses and mosses were trampled on by her feet, marking the way she had come, but she looked down and it all looked trampled. 

Kagome cried out for joy when she came upon a clearing but then her spirits fell again as she looked around and realized the village wasn't on the other side of the clearing.

Kagome sighed and sat on a rock nearby. She began to fear she would never find her way out of this forest. That was when she looked up and took a closer look around the clearing and saw a little boy laying in a tree on the far side of the clearing. She got up, confused, and headed towards the tree. He was wearing red pants and a red shirt and had long silverish-white hair. She couldn't see the color of his eyes because his eyes were closed.

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A/N-Heh…I bet you can't guess who it is! ***CoughInu-YashaCough*** Sorry this chapter's so short. I just want to get feedback before I post more first. This is a sort of introduction thing. The next chapter will be longer definitely. I have this story almost finished and all typed up. I try to get most of the story written before I post it so that I know I won't fall behind with the writing of it when I have lotsa homework and stuff. It's thirty-eight pages long so far and it's not done yet. So right now, I'm just waiting for you guys to review and tell me what you think ^_^ Now review! Any flames will be used to burn my math book (Burn BURN!!!). 


	2. II: Meeting the Boy

A/N-Hey guys! I'm back with another chappie for you all! Enjoy!

Disclaimer-I don't own the Inu-Yasha characters. I'm just borrowing them ^_^ I promise I'll give them back when I'm done…***Grins evilly***

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When Did Things Get Complicated?

By ChaChaChica

Chapter II

"What are you doing here?" the boy asked before Kagome could even say anything. She frowned. She thought she had been very quiet, but apparently not quiet enough.

"I'm lost," Kagome admitted to the boy, who still hadn't opened his eyes. "I was playing with my friends and the ball rolled into the forest but I got lost when I was looking for it."

"You sure have a bad sense of direction. You went the wrong way," the boy commented indifferently.

"Don't you think I know that?" Kagome exclaimed indignantly, placing her hands on her hips as best she could with a ball in her hands.

"You have some friends," the boy said sarcastically, his eyes still closed.

"I have great friends!" Kagome retorted. 

"They're not here with you," the boy pointed out. "They just let you go in by yourself and didn't even offer to help? I would get better friends if I were you."

"They were afraid to go into the forest. They feared being eaten by demons. Had it been any other forest besides this one, they would have gladly come with me," Kagome replied matter-of-factly.

The boy opened his eyes now and looked down at her. Kagome saw that he had very nice amber-colored eyes.

"I don't see _your_ friends here with you," Kagome said, looking around and seeing that he was alone.

"I don't have friends," the boy replied nonchalantly, closing his eyes again.

Kagome felt a bit sorry now. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude. Will you come down from there?"

The boy opened his eyes and Kagome saw him consider her request for a moment before he hopped off of the branch he had been laying on to land in front of Kagome.

That was when she noticed his ears. They weren't human ears. They were the ears of a dog demon.

Kagome gasped. "Your ears…"

He turned pink and reached up subconsciously to touch one of his ears.

"You're a demon," Kagome stated, though he and she both already knew that. She peered closely at him. "You don't look very dangerous or frightening…"

Then he made a face that she guessed was supposed to scare her, but only made her giggle.

He crossed his arms indignantly. "When I grow up, I'll be the most feared demon alive!"

"I won't be afraid of you," Kagome declared.

"Why not?" the boy asked, a little put out. Everyone was supposed to fear him if he said so.

"Because I'll look at you when you're all grown up and I'll remember that face you just pulled and I'll laugh," Kagome said, smiling.

The boy smiled as well. "Fine. You won't get eaten then."

"So what does your demon form look like?" Kagome asked eagerly for her father had told her that some demons had a more human-looking form, and then their demon form. She was guessing that this boy was in his human form right now since he looked very human except for his ears.

The boy turned pink. "I don't really have a demon form. I'm only half demon."

Then Kagome remembered the lord's daughter that had acted as a peace treaty between the two kingdoms ten years ago but she had died after giving birth to a child. "Was your mother mortal?"

The boy nodded. 

"Are you the son of the king of the demon lands?" Kagome asked.

The boy hesitated a moment but then nodded again. "I'm Inu-Yasha. Who are you?"

"Kagome."

Inu-Yasha scratched his head. "Have I met you before? I've heard that name before. I know I have."

Kagome just shrugged. If he didn't know that she was a princess, she wasn't going to tell him.

Inu-Yasha still thought, trying to remember. Then he looked up at her. "You're Shinraisei's daughter aren't you?" he asked, saying the name of her father.

Kagome nodded.

"I've got to get home," Inu-Yasha said suddenly, turning around and running towards the other side of the clearing.

"No wait! Come back!" Kagome called. "At least tell me which way I have to go to get home!"

Inu-Yasha pointed towards the opposite direction he was going and then disappeared. 

Kagome didn't know whether to trust his directions or not. For all she knew, he could have been pointing her towards the wrong way, but she went that way anyway, seeing as she had no better plans.

After some minutes of walking, she began to think he really had pointed in the wrong direction and she was getting very tired, but just as she was thinking this, she came out of the forest and saw the village. Kagome breathed a sigh of relief and ran for home. 

As soon as both of her feet were inside the gates of the castle, her mother, Kikyo, came hurrying out of the great wooden double doors. That was when Kagome noticed that the sky was pink and the sun was setting. Kagome had spent a good part of the day wandering in the forest. 

"Where have you been Kagome-hime?" Kikyo cried, pulling Kagome into an embrace. "You had me worried sick! Where have you been all day?"

"I…" Kagome began to tell her, but then decided against telling her about getting lost in the forest and talking to a demon, even if he was a half demon. If she told her that, her mother would either faint or go into hysterics and post guards around every inch of the castle so Kagome couldn't ever go into the forest again, though Kagome felt that once in the forest was more than enough for her, and, unless told to go in there, she would most likely not be wandering around that forest ever again. But, her mother wouldn't believe her and would post guards so that Kagome couldn't even go into the village anymore, so Kagome just told her she had been in the village, which wasn't all a lie. She had been in the village for a time.

"Kagome," Kikyo said, letting out an exasperated sigh. "You can't just go wandering around the villages!"

"Why not?" Kagome asked, pouting a little bit (She was seven years old after all, and didn't like being told she couldn't do something). 

"What if you get kidnapped or injured or, worse yet, eaten or killed by a demon?" her mother answered briskly, leading Kagome back into the castle.

"Demons aren't all bad are they?" Kagome asked as her mother rushed her inside.

"Of course they are," Kikyo answered as if it were the easiest question in the world.

"But what if a demon is half and half?" 

"Half and half of what dear?"

"Half demon and half human."

"There's no such thing. No sensible person in their right mind would ever marry or mate with a demon, and, even if there was such a thing and the person were insane, the child is still half demon," Kikyo answered.

"But what if-" Kagome began but was cut off by her mother.

"Why such curiosity about demons all of a sudden?" her mother asked, though she wasn't expecting an answer. "Enough talk of demons. They are no concern of yours. Now, go tell your father you're home safely."

"But-" Kagome protested.

"Don't tarry! He's been very worried about you," Kikyo scolded lightly, making shooing motions with her hands. 

Kagome sighed in resignation. No one ever told her anything, just because she was seven. Her parents had never told her much about demons, only that they were dangerous and wicked and that she should stay away from them, but Inu-Yasha hadn't been dangerous or wicked. He had helped her get home when she would have most certainly wandered around that forest until she met some untimely end. And he didn't have any friends. Everyone should have friends.

After telling her father that she was back home (She had had to interrupt a meeting between him and a few important lords to tell him) her mother sent her to her room to finish her sewing. Her parents were hosting a banquet and dancing that night for some lords and ladies and, fortunately, Kagome was only required to put in a short appearance before she was able to slip back up into her room. She didn't sew like her mother told her to though. Instead she read and looked out the window until she grew tired and went to bed.

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A/N-There ya go guys! Hope you enjoyed! They're so cute when they're kids! Awww!! Well alright, now REVIEW! Oh and visit my Inu-Yasha site! 

Oh and feel free to IM me! I love chatting with fellow ff.net authors! My AIM screen name is ChaChaChica2537.


	3. III: Where is Kagome hime?

A/N-Weeeee! I'm back with another lovely kawaii chapter for you guys! Itty-bitty Inu-Yasha! Kawaii! Okay, I think that's all I have to say…

Disclaimer-I OWN INU-YASHA! That's right, I STOLE him! Hah! And there's nothing you can do about it! Hah! ***Doorbell rings and ChaChaChica peeks outside to see lawyers in black suits and dark glasses at her door*** Eeep! I was just kidding! I don't own them! Did I say I own them? I didn't mean to, really!

Review Responses:

lilfairydemon566: Here's the next chapter for you! Hope you weren't waiting too long ^_^

tenshineko: Here's how they meet again! They are cute aren't they? ^_^

Yuko: I updated as soon as I could!

Ronald Schmidt: I used to have a friend whose last name was Schmidt…Anyway, here's the next chappie for you!

she thinks my ears are fuzzy: Lol, UI have a song about that on my site. I think I told you that already…I tried to update fast! I think I did pretty good ^_^

            You people aren't giving me much to respond to! Give me some death threats or suggestions or questions or comments, something! 

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When Did Things Get Complicated?

By ChaChaChica

Chapter III

"Where is Kagome?" Kikyo asked when the family was seated around the huge dining table at breakfast. "Send for Kagome-hime," she told a servant standing nearby, who, after receiving the request, curtsied and left the dining hall.

A few minutes later, the servant hurried back into the room without Kagome. She curtsied as she neared the table and said, "Kagome-hime is not in her room, nor in the library. She wasn't in the study either."

"Did you check the gardens?" 

"Yes, your majesty."

Kikyo sighed. "Kagome, what are we going to do with you?"

"Kagome! You're alive!" one of Kagome's friends, Sango, called as she walked into the village.

"Of course I'm alive you ninny," Kagome said, laughing.

"I'm so glad! I'm sorry but I can't play today. I have to help mama in the garden," Sango said, hurrying back towards her mother's garden and calling over her shoulder, "I'll be able to play later though!"

Kagome turned and looked into the forest. She wondered whether Inu-Yasha would be in that clearing again. Yesterday, from the way he looked so comfortable in the clearing, he seemed to visit there often. Kagome walked to the edge of the forest, which was called the 'Between Forest' because it was between the demon realm and the human realm, and peered in, almost afraid to enter. When she had walked through the forest the day before, she had walked straight the direction Inu-Yasha had pointed, so if she walked straight in, not turning at all, she figured she should come to the clearing. 

So many things could go wrong with that plan…but Kagome shrugged. If she had planned on having a safe life with no danger in it whatsoever, she would've stayed in the castle and endured her lessons, but she hadn't, so she stepped into the forest. Besides, he seemed like fun and he needed a friend. Kagome was determined for him to have a friend. She had never met a demon before and she found herself suddenly curious. Why did everyone fear them? Inu-Yasha didn't seem dangerous at all. He seemed just like her. A little kid who liked to have fun and get out of lessons.

This time, she didn't wander around. She walked in as straight a line as possible. Kagome thought that if she strayed from the straight line even a little bit, she would get lost again and most likely this time, no half-demon boy would point the way back home. 

After what felt like an eternity to Kagome, even though it had really only been maybe half an hour, and she was just feeling like turning back around and walking straight out of the forest, she came upon a clearing. At first she couldn't tell whether it was the same clearing or not, but then she saw the rock she had sat upon when she had been just on the verge of giving up hope of ever getting out of the forest, and then she saw the tree Inu-Yasha had been laying in and knew that it was indeed the same clearing. 

She looked around and found that he wasn't there, so she climbed up into the tree he had been laying in the day before and decided to wait and see if he would come. 

Inu-Yasha sighed as he entered the forest, carrying a ball. He felt relieved to be outside. His father wouldn't care if he left. He probably wouldn't even notice. He and Sesshoumaru, Inu-Yasha's older half-brother, were always talking in his father's study. He didn't know what they talked about, only that he wasn't allowed to come and bother them. Not that he wanted to know what they talked about anyway. He was only eight. Whatever they talked about was probably not going to be something he would be interested in hearing. He would be in trouble with his tutor though, but he'd deal with that later.

Then Inu-Yasha stopped as he remembered the girl, Kagome. He wondered whether she was going to be there again. Then he shook his head and continued walking. She had been lost. She wouldn't wander into the forest again after being lost. She'd just get lost again. He did wonder vaguely if she got home okay though.  

His father had always told him that humans weren't to be trusted. They were deceitful and full of artifice (A/N-Bonus points for me for using an English vocab word!) and Sesshoumaru told him, in his less watered-down-by-pretty-words-description, that they were filthy back stabbers. Inu-Yasha frowned. Kagome didn't seem like a back stabber and she certainly didn't seem deceitful. But he couldn't be around her anyway. Sesshoumaru would laugh at him and make fun of the fact that he was a hanyou who liked to hang around humans. Inu-Yasha already got enough of that as it was and he didn't want to give Sesshoumaru something more to make fun of him about.

He soon found the clearing in the forest he went to just about everyday (needless to say, his tutor was getting very angry but he always came back in time for another three hours of lessons so it wasn't like he wasn't learning at all). He immediately looked at the other side of the clearing. There was no human girl sitting on the rock or entering the clearing from the other side. Inu-Yasha couldn't tell if he was glad or disappointed, but he decided not to think about it anymore. 

He was just heading over towards the tree he usually sat in when he caught a weird scent. He tried to figure out what it was but it was something he had never smelled before…Wait! He had smelled it once before. He had smelled it yesterday when Kagome was in the clearing. He looked around. Where was she then? 

Then he continued to walk to his tree, this time walking backwards so that he could keep his eyes on the other side of the clearing as he walked.

"Why are you walking like that?" a voice asked from above him. 

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A/N-Aww! Itty-bitty Inu-Yasha! Kawaii!!! ***Tries to hug itty-bitty Inu-Yasha, who runs away, screaming*** Anyway, now review people! I would like to point out to some people ***CoughKrnDevil91Cough*** that you can leave a review even if you don't have an account because you can review anonymously ***HintHint*** ^_^ Just thought you'd like to know. Now review my lovely readers. Your reviews help me survive school…most of the time anyway…Ja! 

Oh yes, visit my Inu-Yasha site! 

www.geocities.com/chicachic2537

It's new so there's not much there yet. Read the stick figures!


	4. IV: This Isn't Your Tree

A/N-Alright guys. Here's the next chappie! 

Disclaimer-I do not own the Inu-Yasha characters. If I did, I sure as hell wouldn't be posting my stuff here ^_^

Review Responses:

Anime M- Don't worry, I know how you feel. My friends never take my death threats seriously. But evil brown bananas really are going to take over the world if she doesn't give me back Larry! (Heh…Don't ask…Long story that's not worth telling ^_^)

Marillawen- Ooh! If you draw a picture of itty-bitty Inu-Yasha, send it to me! I'd love to see it! I'm okay at drawing but I think I like my fanfiction better…

Yuko- Arigotou is what again? I think it was…Thank you? I don't remember but I think so…

GL-The conflict comes in later. There's lots of conflicts but the first one comes in…I think it's either the next chapter of the one after that. I don't remember right now ^_^;

Angel-dawn-dragon- Wow! Thanks!

Laura-chan- Thanks! I worked really hard on the plot and I'm very proud of it. ***Hugs her plot***

darksidemoonshine- That's okay. Maybe you'll be more talkative after this chapter ^_~

silverstarlight- I know! I keep picturing little itty-bitty Inu-Yasha and Kagome playing in the forest while I was writing this.

Slycat- Yes! A+ Woo hoo! 

Spirit- I tried to post really fast. I think I did a pretty good job at getting this up quick. 

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When Did Things Get Complicated?

By ChaChaChica

Chapter IV

Inu-Yasha looked straight up to see Kagome peering down at him, a puzzled look on her face. "I smelled you and I thought you were wandering through the forest again."

"You smelled me?" Kagome asked, making Inu-Yasha blush a little. She was going to make fun of him, he knew she was. Everyone did. "Do I smell good?" she asked then, making his blush disappear. So she didn't think smelling her was so weird after all.

"You smell like a human," Inu-Yasha said, shrugging.

"So I don't have a special smell?" Kagome asked, almost disappointed that she didn't have a special scent.

"Well…I smell lilacs and a little bit of orange, but the orange wasn't there yesterday," Inu-Yasha said.

Kagome smiled. "I spilled orange juice on me this morning when I was eating breakfast. Then I had to hurry out of the castle before my mother could stop me." 

"You had to sneak out?" Inu-Yasha asked.

"Yes, didn't you?"

"No, not really. My dad wouldn't notice if I was gone. Only my tutor would notice. How'd you get out?"

"I climbed up the wall."

"The wall?" Inu-Yasha asked in disbelief.

"Yes, there are ivy vines growing up both sides of the wall towards the back of the castle," Kagome replied.

"Why don't you just walk out the front?"

"There are guards there. There are hardly any guards towards the back because that's where the kitchens and the gardens are and my father can't exactly post guards in the kitchen now can he?" Kagome said, matter-of-factly.

"You're in my tree," Inu-Yasha said, pointing absently to "his tree."

"Really?" Kagome asked. Then she examined the branches closely. "Hmm…" she murmured and then looked down towards the bottom of the trunk. "Nope, not there."

"What's not there?"

"Your name of course. It doesn't say "Inu-Yasha's tree" on it, so doesn't that make it everyone's?" Kagome asked.

Inu-Yasha smiled. "I guess so. You don't seem deceitful and you don't seem very back stabbing either," Inu-Yasha commented before he could stop himself.

"…Thanks…?" Kagome replied, not sure if that was meant to be a compliment or not.

"My father said that all humans were back stabbing deceivers. Well, actually, my father said they were deceitful and my brother said they were back stabbers," Inu-Yasha told her.

"And my mother told me that all demons were dangerous and wicked and that I should stay away from them. But, then again, she said that there was no such thing as half demons either. So I guess humans and demons aren't as black and white as both our families thought."

"Black and white?" Inu-Yasha asked. 

"Well, you know, black and white. Classifying all demons under evil or, in your case, all humans under evil. You can't just make things black and white. There's orange and red and yellow and green and blue so you can't just go putting things into one category because everything is different for everyone."

"Well I'm not going to think black and white anymore," Inu-Yasha declared.

Kagome smiled. "Good, neither am I. And besides, if things were meant to be black and white, we wouldn't have any other colors to begin with." Then Kagome giggled. "You know, my friend, Sango, thought I was dead. She was so surprised when I walked into the village this morning." 

"You are the strangest person I've ever met," Inu-Yasha commented.

"Really? I'm strange? I hadn't noticed," Kagome said indifferently. "Aren't I the only _person_ person you've ever met?"

Inu-Yasha smiled and then nodded.

"Well you see? Saying I'm the strangest person you've ever met is not saying much then," Kagome stated.

Inu-Yasha was silent a moment and then asked, holding up his ball, "Do you want to play ball with me?"

"Sure!" Kagome asked, finally climbing down from the tree.  

They played and talked until Kagome finally said she had to go home or her mother would die from worry. She glanced around the clearing. 

"Now, which way do I go to get home again?" Kagome asked.

"That way," Inu-Yasha told her, pointing towards the rock she had sat on the first time she had found the clearing.

"Right."

"Will you come tomorrow?" Inu-Yasha asked hopefully.

"Yes. I'll come right after breakfast."

"Great! See you then!" Inu-Yasha called, waving and running out the other side of the clearing.

Kagome waved until he was gone and then went the other way towards her home.

As usual, her mother was pacing right in front of the great wooden doors and as soon as Kagome was inside the gates, her mother came rushing out. "Kagome! What are we to do with you? You can't just sneak away anytime you fee like! Now, go to the study! You are going to make up for all the lessons you missed while you were out today! Now go!" her mother commanded sternly.

Kagome curtsied. "Yes mama." She walked slowly hanging her head in resignation, but as soon as her mother was out of sight, Kagome skipped down the halls towards the library. That day was a great day. She had had so much fun and she couldn't wait until tomorrow when they could do it again! Not even hours of lessons could dampen her spirits. 

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A/N-Awwww! Kawaii! Heh…Anyway, now review! It makes me happy ^_^ Oh yes, I'd also just like to warn you guys now that I probably won't be able to post again until next weekend. I have too much homework and other stuff to do during the week to update as regularly as I have been doing. I might be able to post on Wednesday because it's late start then so we usually don't get too much homework and I don't have piano lessons on that day, but I can't guarantee anything. Oh yes, and if someone doesn't mind spoilers for this fic, I need to talk to someone about how to end this story. I have the idea already in my head, but I need to try it out on somebody. Email me at chacha_chica2537@yahoo.com or IM me at ChaChaChica2537 if you're interested. I could certainly try the idea out on more than one person too. Okay, now review!


	5. V: Nosy Little Sango

A/N-I'm sorry I couldn't update sooner guys. My teachers think I have no life out of school. Hey…wait a minute…Well, it is officially the weekend and, as promised, here is the next chapter for all you patient, and impatient, readers.

Disclaimer-Wahaha! I own Inu-Yasha and co.! Hah! ***Runs away from the creepy looking lawyers*** I'm just kidding! Don't sue me! They're not mine! They're not! I admit it!

Review responses: I don't have time to respond to everybody so I'll just respond to the ones I feel like responding to ^_^

Inulover: Well, I have a lot of it typed up already and it's like thirty-five pages on my word processor. I'm not done with it so it's going to be longer than thirty-five pages. I don't know how many chapters that is…

Yamashita: I don't want to spoil it but of course they do that! It's coming, don't worry. I just can't possibly write an Inu-Yasha fic without some Kagome/Inu-Yasha-ness! 

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When Did Things Get Complicated?

By ChaChaChica

Chapter V

Kagome rushed down the halls and down staircases and slowed down only when she had reached the dining hall. Then she composedly walked in and took her seat at the table. 

"I'm glad to see you've decided to eat breakfast this morning," her father remarked, a twinkle of laughter in his eyes.

"I decided that you should be able to see me every once in awhile father," Kagome replied, smiling.

Of the entire family, she probably loved her father the most. He was always kind and laughing and telling jokes. He had a sort of charisma that made you hang on his every word. Sometimes, her father would ask her to come into his study so that she could listen in on the discussions of war strategies (when they were needed, which wasn't often) with her older brother and other important lords or how he should solve this problem in this village, or the irrigation problem in that village. It made Kagome feel important, and while she wasn't really interested in most of that stuff yet, it made her feel good to know that her father never forgot her and always tried to include her.

Kagome quickly ate her breakfast and, after she was excused, she walked calmly out of the dining hall and then ran out of the doors. That day was a day where she didn't have lessons, and since on those days, she was allowed to go outside, she went out through the front gates and then into the forest. When she got to the clearing, Inu-Yasha was already there. They played and talked and laughed for hours before Kagome and Inu-Yasha went home to eat dinner. 

Every day after that went like this, except when Kikyo started to get very angry at Kagome for always missing her lessons, so she and Inu-Yasha had decided that on days when they had lessons, they would meet after dinner for a little while, though not nearly long enough to them. On days when they didn't have lessons or anything else going on, they stayed in the clearing, occasionally wandering around the forest (Kagome following Inu-Yasha because he knew the forest much better than she did) all day until dinner. And of course, Kagome still played with Sango as well, though she didn't tell Sango about Inu-Yasha. Inu-Yasha couldn't come once every month on a certain day because his family had a special celebration or gathering or something like that, *CoughHintHumanHintCough* which was just fine with Kagome. Family gatherings and celebrations were just as important as meeting with your friend and she understood that, and there was only one every month.

At one particular meeting, a little over a year after they first met, Inu-Yasha asked if they would be best friends forever. 

"Of course we will be," Kagome assured him.

"What happens if our families find out and make us stay apart?" Inu-Yasha asked.

"Then we'll run away," Kagome said (Remember, she was only eight at the time and didn't realize what a ridiculous suggestion that was). 

"What if they lock us up before we can run away? Or what if-" Inu-Yasha began.

"And what if the sky falls down tomorrow, crushing us all, or what if the ground cracks in half and we all fall into Hell and burn?" Kagome asked.

"Do you promise we'll be friends forever?" Inu-Yasha asked.

"I pinky swear!" Kagome declared dramatically, holding out her pinky.

Inu-Yasha grinned and locked his pinky with hers.

"Inu-Yasha?" Kagome asked one day, as they lay back in the soft green grass of the clearing, looking up at a deep blue sky. "If you got just one wish, what would you wish for?"

Inu-Yasha thought for a moment, looking up at the wispy white clouds floating lazily through the blue sky. "I'd wish to be a full demon so I won't be different anymore," he said finally.

Kagome propped herself on one elbow and looked at him. "Really? You don't want to be different? But being the same as everyone else is boring, and if you weren't different, you wouldn't be special anymore. You'd just be another face in the crowd."

"But you don't know what it's like, Kagome. Everyone treats me differently and they poke fun at me. I don't like to be different. For the longest time, I tried to find my place in the world. Then I realized that I did have a place in the world, but I was the only one in it. I don't like to feel alone."

"Well, you're not alone anymore! You have me!" Kagome declared happily.

Inu-Yasha smiled. "I have you here but at home I'm alone. What would you wish for?"

Kagome thought for a moment, laying back down in the grass and looking at the clouds. Then she propped herself up again and smiled at him. "I'd wish to be a hanyou! That way, you won't be the only one in your place anymore because I'll be there too!"

Inu-Yasha grinned. "Really? That's what you'd wish for?"

Kagome nodded. "Uh huh. Then there'll be two people in your place instead of just one and you'll never be alone again." (A/N-Alright, remember this conversation because I'm not quite sure yet, but it might come up again at the very end ^_^ And that's all I'll tell you.)

"Mama, I'm going out to play!" ten-year old Sango called over her shoulder as she ran out their small house. When she came around to the back of the house, she saw Kagome hurrying towards the forest. Sango frowned. Come to think of it, she often saw Kagome enter and leave the forest. She wondered what she did in there. There was nothing in there except trees and some demons perhaps. She hurried towards Kagome.

"Kagome! Can you play today? I have to go inside for dinner soon, but we can play until then right?" Sango asked. Kagome was also ten years old at the time.

Kagome fidgeted. "Umm…I was going to go…" she said, turning towards the forest.

"You're going into the forest? Why? What's in the forest besides trees and evil spirits and ghosts and demons?" Sango asked.

"Umm…I'll play after I get back okay? I won't be too long!" Kagome called, dashing into the forest before Sango could stop her. 

Sango hesitated a moment, not sure of what to do. Before she could change her mind and chicken out, she ran into the forest, following Kagome. She made sure to stay far enough behind her so that Kagome wouldn't hear her but so that Sango could still see her. 

Finally, Kagome ran into a clearing. Sango stayed within the cover of the trees. She saw a small child jump out of a tree. He had long silverish-white hair and amberish-colored eyes. Then Sango noticed that he had dog ears. It was a dog demon…

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A/N-Wahahaha! Nosy little Sango…Okay, now review people! I might have time to update once more this weekend but no guarantees.


	6. VI: What Do You See?

A/N-Here is the next chapter for you all. I think this will be the last time I update this weekend. I might be able to update sometime in the middle of the week but I don't know. I have an orchestra contest on Tuesday and a festival thing on Saturday where I'm playing in a violin/viola duet and I really need to practice so I don't think I can update until next Friday or next Sunday. I just thought I'd tell you guys ahead of time so you aren't biting my head off when I don't update right away ^_^

Disclaimer-Hehe…*Looks around to make sure no creepy lawyers are around* I own Inu-Yasha! Haha! ***Doorbell rings*** Ahk! I was just kidding!

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When Did Things Get Complicated

Chapter VI

"Kagome!" Sango shouted, running into the clearing and jumped in front of Kagome as a protective shield, though what she could do against a demon, Sango hadn't thought of yet. "Run Kagome!"

"Sango!" Kagome gasped. "What are you doing here? And what are you doing?"

"It's a dog demon! Run!" Sango shouted.

Inu-Yasha meanwhile, looked thoroughly confused, though he prepared to either fight or run, just in case this girl should attack him.

"No, Sango stop," Kagome said. "He's my friend."

Sango seemed to freeze where she was. Finally, after what felt like eternity, she turned around and said slowly, "Your…friend…?" 

"Yes my friend," Kagome said.

"You're friends with a demon?" Sango hissed to her, completely ignoring the fact that the demon was right behind her and had excellent hearing. "How can you be friends with a demon? They're filthy, low-down-"

"No they're not! Not all of them! Sango, they're all different. Some may be filthy low downs but some aren't, just like people. Some people are even filthy low downs so what's the difference?" Kagome asked.

"Kagome, you don't understand…" Sango began to explain.

"I do understand. I think I understand better than anyone. No one else believes me either. I would have at least expected you, such a close friend of mine, to understand," Kagome said. "Sango, when you look at me, what do you see?"

Sango snorted. "What do you mean what do I see. I see a human girl with black hair and bluish purple eyes and-"

"No, I mean besides that."

Sango sighed. "I see my best friend: the nicest, smartest, funnest person in the world."

"Yeah, and what would you see if I were a demon?" Kagome asked.

"What does that mean? I'd see the same thing!" Sango insisted.

"No, you wouldn't. You'd see a filthy, wicked, evil, and untrustworthy youkai."

Sango stared at Kagome for long moments. Then she turned around and held out her hand to Inu-Yasha. "I am Sango. I apologize for my rudeness from earlier. I thought you were attacking my friend but now I see that you were not so I hope we can start over." 

 After that day, Sango came with Kagome occasionally. She lived close to the forest and her mother would be furious if she happened to look out a window and see Sango leaving or entering the forest, so she came only when her mother was at someone else's house or if she was out with her father working in the fields.

One morning, shortly after Kagome turned fourteen, she was just about to stand and leave the dining hall to go outside since it was a day when she didn't have lessons.

"Kagome, your father and I have been thinking," her mother told her.

Kagome started to feel a bit nervous. These conversations didn't always go well. "About what mama?"

Her father cut into the conversation. "We were wondering if you had at all thought of marriage."

"Marriage?" Kagome asked.

"Yes, you are fourteen and it's about time we started to think about that," her mother said. "You were at the banquet last night. How did you like Lord Naraku's son?"

Kagome thought back to the night before. She had talked to Lord Naraku's son and she remembered him to be very dull and dim-witted. He didn't have any imagination or sense of adventure at all. When she had talked to him, he had insisted on talking about the food they were eating: fish. When she tried to change the subject to something a little more interesting, he somehow always found a way to link it back to fish. They conversation went something like this:

"This fish is really good. Your cooks must be fantastic," he had remarked, though in a monotone and bored voice.

"Y-yes, it is good," Kagome said and then changed the subject. "I hear your father is a great and powerful lord."

"Yes, his people catch lots of fish so it prospers. Did you know that the nets used to catch the fish are really big?" he asked, still in a bored voice.

"Um…No. It sounds very…erm…interesting though," Kagome said awkwardly.

"It is. They catch a lot of fish," he said again.

            Kagome sighed. She could tell already that this was going to be a _long_ banquet.

"That's how my father's lands prosper," he said again.

At this point, Kagome had politely excused herself though she was screaming on the insides and had left the dining hall.

"He was…well…he…he had good teeth?" Kagome supplied hopefully.

Her mother's smile seemed frozen on her face. "He…had…good…teeth? That's all?"

"Well…umm…No, he also…Yes," Kagome said.

"Well, no matter," her mother said briskly, as if to say 'We'll find him someday.'

"May I be excused now?" Kagome asked.

"What do you have planned for today dear?" her father asked.

"I was going to go to the village to see Sango," Kagome said, which wasn't wholly a lie. She would see Sango after all.

"You seem to be out of the castle a lot," her mother said suspiciously.

"Well…I-I like…being outside," Kagome said, getting even more nervous now.

"Is that all?" her mother asked.

"W-well, yes," Kagome stuttered.

"Look at that mama. She is as red as a tomato. I think she meets with her sweetheart every time she's out," Shidosha said teasingly, though her mother took pressed on.

"Well dear, who is he?" she asked, leaning forward confidingly.

Kagome sweatdropped as she felt her cheeks burn. She fidgeted nervously. "Who's who mama? There's no 'he.'" 

Her mother narrowed her eyes suspiciously and studied Kagome for a moment and Kagome got even redder under her gaze and fidgeted. Her mother sighed. "Fine, have fun with _Sango_ I suppose."

Kagome ran out of the hall and sighed deeply. She thought she had handled that well… 

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A/N-Alright, like I already said, I might not get to update again till next weekend. I really have to practice my solo and my duet so I won't have the time. Maybe I'll post on Tuesday or Wednesday night but I can't promise anything. Now review. They make me happy ^_^


	7. VII: All Things Soon End

A/N-HAHA! This chapter is long_er_! Yay! Now, I won't be able to update again until next weekend or maybe on Wednesday. Tuesday is that large group competition where we have to be at school at 5:20 since we play at 8:00 in Ellensburg which is like, a two hour drive. I have a concertino part at that competition and I really need to practice. I also have a festival on Saturday where I'm playing a duet and I've probably looked at the music maybe four times, maybe even five. My English teacher also thinks I have no life outside the English classroom so he's made sure that he piled the homework on as much as possible without me dying from stress. 

A review response-Alright, I'd just like to say that contrary to popular belief, I do have a life outside of writing fanfiction. I have a lot of other stuff to do that are much more important than writing fanfiction like my homework for school. My grades are much more important right now and orchestra competitions and studying for math tests are more important too. My math grade is dropping so if I fail this test I'm going to be in huge trouble. Right now, those are my first priorities so I apologize that I don't update regularly but I have a lot to do and not enough time to do it in. I just don't appreciate someone saying they hate me just because I don't update regularly. I try. I really do. Sorry if this response sounded angry. I know you were kidding, or at least I hope you were kidding, and I am angry but at my teachers, not you ^_^ That was just my mad-at-my-teachers rant. I'm just really stressed out right now and I'm loopee and delirious on medicine because I'm really sick and I feel horrible.

LOL, I just saw the episode where Inu-Yasha sneezes and says, "Damn, someone's talking shit about me." I love that episode. It's hilarious. I've been sneezing all day. People must be talking lots of shit about me. I feel so loved…^_^

Disclaimer-I do not own the Inu-Yasha characters. They belong to Rumiko Takahashi and if you didn't know that already…Well then your brain needs new batteries.

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When Did Things Get Complicated?

Chapter VII

You know how they say, "all good things must come to an end?" Well, this good thing came to an end not long before Kagome turned fifteen. Up until this time, they had kept their promise. Their friendship was one of those kinds that kept growing and growing and growing until it doesn't seem like it can grow any more, but still manages to grow anyway. They could tell each other everything and anything. They had one of those things where you didn't have to see the other person to know that they were there. You didn't even have to know how you knew, you just did. Kagome knew everything there was to know about Inu-Yasha (except for his "time of the month") and even everything there wasn't to know. He didn't have to tell her for her to know what he was thinking and what he was feeling. And Inu-Yasha, likewise, knew everything there was to know about Kagome. Right before this good thing came to an end, Kagome was beginning to wonder if maybe her feelings for Inu-Yasha were developing into something more than friendship. She kept asking herself if she maybe felt something more and soon, she decided that she was. She couldn't say that it was love because she had never been in it before so she wouldn't know what it was, but she knew that she was definitely feeling something more. She had even resolved to tell him sometime soon. 

Even Sango noticed that most times, Kagome's mind was in the forest. When she and Kagome would be talking in her room or something, Kagome would sometimes walk over to the window to look out at the forest. Sango knew that Inu-Yasha was constantly on Kagome's mind and she was happy for her friend. 

But shortly before she turned fifteen, she walked into the clearing and Inu-Yasha wasn't there. She waited as long as she could but she soon had to head back to the castle, seeing as it was getting dark. As soon as she stepped out of the forest, she knew something was wrong. She could just tell that something wasn't right. She could tell that that something was something very bad too. When she came to the gates of the castle, she saw many villagers standing in front of the gates, talking in panicked and frightened voices and her father's guards were hurrying about everywhere, shouting orders and running into the forest.

"What's going on? What happened?" Kagome shouted as she tried to make her way through the crowd. She was beginning to feel afraid. "What's everyone doing?" She pushed through the crowd and then ran into the castle, the guards stopping her before she could enter.

"What are you doing? I'm Princess Kagome! Why are you stopping me? This is my home!" she demanded. 

"How are we to know you are not one of those fox demons in disguise?" one of the guards asked.

"Fox demon?!" Kagome cried. "Oh honestly! I'm Kagome! Mama! What's going on? Tell them who I am!" she shouted when she saw her mother walk out of the doors. Then she stopped shouting and trying to push past the guards when she really looked at her. Her mother's face was pale and her eyes were red from crying. Her hair was a mess, something she never usually let happen, and somehow she looked years older and frailer than she had been when Kagome had seen her just that morning.

"Mama? What happened?" Kagome asked, growing cold inside and fearing her answer.

Kikyo motioned for the guards to let Kagome pass. Kagome hurried over to her mother. 

"Mama? What happened?" It felt like Kagome had asked that a dozen times already.

"Kagome!" her mother said, crying again and pulling her into an embrace. "It was horrible…Climbed over the wall…They were in so quickly…They were gone just as quickly…Before we could do anything…We couldn't stop them…We tried…"

"Mama?" Kagome asked, pulling back and gently shaking her by the shoulders. "Mama? What are you talking about? Who?" Kagome asked frantically. Already a feeling of dread was coming over her. Something horrible had happened while she was gone and she just wanted to know what it was but no one would tell her!

"Your father…demons…" her mother whispered.

"No…" Kagome whispered, shaking her head slowly, and then louder, "No!"

Kagome ran through the double doors, pushing past some guards that tried to block her and then dashed up some stairs and down the hall, coming to her father's study. He'd be in there. He was always in there. For as long as Kagome could remember, whenever she needed to talk to her father, she had always been able to find him in there. He wasn't gone. She'd open the door and he'd be at his desk, writing or talking to a lord. He'd smile as she entered and then he would greet her warmly, just as he always had.

She opened the door and looked inside. He wasn't in there. He wasn't at the desk writing of talking to a lord. He didn't smile and greet her. He wasn't there.

Then she ran up another set of stairs, still searching for her father, but her insides froze when she saw a crowd of lords and ladies gathered outside of a door. They were gathered in the doorway of the room where all of the royals' bodies were kept to be prepared for the funeral ceremonies.

Kagome tried to shove through the lords and ladies to make sure it was really her father and not someone else who was dead, but they stopped her and wouldn't let her in the room. She knew why too. They didn't want to see her father's body, mangled by the claws of demons. But no, her father wasn't in that room because he wasn't dead. He was alive and they just had to wrong person. The person in that room, lying lifeless upon the bed wasn't her father. It was someone else, someone else's father, not hers because hers couldn't die.

Her mother came and took her away from the hall outside the room.

"What happened?" Kagome asked finally after many moments of silence in which Kagome could not find her voice.

"The demons came…They climbed over the wall and entered through the kitchens," her mother said, trembling slightly.

"Hachimitsu? Shidosha?" Kagome asked, almost dreading the answer.

"They're fine. Hachimitsu was in the other end of the castle in the nursery and Shidosha went to the East village earlier today and still hasn't returned yet," her mother said.

"They did nothing else? Took nothing?" Kagome asked.

"Nothing else. I fear that means they'll be back though."

"How'd they get into the kitchens?" Kagome asked. They could very easily walk through the gates and they couldn't scale the wall without being seen either. Most demons could jump really high or fly, but they couldn't do that either for someone would surely have seen them.

"They climbed over the wall towards the back of the castle. Then they went through the kitchens. It seemed like they knew exactly where to go…" her mother murmured.

"They couldn't know exactly where to go!" Kagome cried. "That's impossible!"

Kagome was the only one who climbed over the wall using the ivy and no one knew that she did that! And no one knew where the kitchens were either unless you lived in the castle. She had certainly never told anyone! Why would she ha…Kagome gasped. She remembered one of her and Inu-Yasha's very first meetings…She had told him that she had snuck out of the castle…She had told him about the ivy…She had told him about the kitchens and the guards and the front gates! 

She paled and started trembling. Her father…He was gone…And it was her fault…She killed him…Kagome turned and ran back out of the castle, running straight into the forest. 

Her footsteps pounded and her heart was beating loudly. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. She had killed him…No matter what anyone said, she did it…And Inu-Yasha…She couldn't believe it. She trusted him…She told him everything! She thought that they were really friends…Her mother and everyone else had been right then. All demons were evil and wicked. They were the deceivers, not humans. She had thought that Inu-Yasha was different but he was just like all of the other nasty, disgusting demons. 

She was sobbing uncontrollably by the time she broke out of the forest and into the clearing. She looked around as best she could through teary eyes. She couldn't see him but she could tell he was there.

"I HATE YOU INU-YASHA!" Kagome shouted as loud as she could, her voice racked with sobs. "I don't care if I never see you again! In fact, I never ever want to see you or any other demon for as long as I live! I HATE DEMONS!" With one last choked sob, she turned and ran as fast as she could back towards home, tripping often over roots and branches since her vision was blurred by tears.

 Inu-Yasha hurried out of the castle and into the forest. He couldn't believe his father had scheduled extra lessons for that day. Inu-Yasha didn't even know why he did that. He never did that before. He sighed. He hoped Kagome wouldn't be too angry with him for coming so late. He doubted if she was even still there because she probably got tired of waiting and went home. He wouldn't blame her since he was very, very late after all.   
            Kagome…He liked being with her. She was so much better than all of the twittering, giggling noble's daughters his father presented to him. His father was still convinced he could find someone for Inu-Yasha to marry. All of the nobles' daughters reminded him of a crowd of chickens…Or maybe a bunch of mice…Well, Kagome would be able to come up with something perfect to compare them to. He'd ask her. 

Inu-Yasha sighed. Why did his father decide to try to get him married instead of Sesshoumaru? Sesshoumaru was older and he'd be inheriting the throne someday. His father was also convinced that when Inu-Yasha left the castle everyday, he was meeting a lover. Maybe introducing him to the nobles' daughters was a way for him to try and figure out who the girl was. Inu-Yasha had blushed deep scarlet whenever his father brought up the subject, only giving his father more reason to believe he was meeting some noble's daughter in the forest…Well, in a way, he was meeting some nobles' daughter, but she wasn't a demon…And she wasn't his lover either. They were just best friends, although Inu-Yasha sometimes found himself wondering if he didn't think of her as more than a best friend, but he didn't ask himself that often, since, to her, he would always be just a friend. If she didn't think about it, he figured he shouldn't either. She wouldn't ever love a half demon anyway. 

But she was so different than any other girl he had ever met before. She had this way to make you think about things you had never thought about before. She made every moment interesting and never took one day for granted. She was never dull or boring. She surprised him every day even though he knew everything about her that was possible to ever know. 

Why weren't any of the demon nobles' daughters like her? If even one of them were like her, he'd marry her gladly. He remembered talking to the ladies before and he would have fallen asleep on his feet if it hadn't been for their high pitched squeals and giggles, waking him up but also bringing a ringing pain to his sensitive ears. He couldn't marry Kagome though, as much as he wanted to (though he was never quite able to bring himself to come out and admit it). His father would never allow it. He'd probably be furious that Inu-Yasha even ever considered the idea. His brother would laugh and taunt him for life. 

Well, he certainly wasn't going to marry one of the noble ladies that his father wanted him to marry or his ears would be constantly ringing and he'd die of sheer boredom. 

Inu-Yasha's thoughts came to a halt as he neared the clearing and slowed down. Then he heard Kagome run into the clearing, sobbing. He was just about to dash into the clearing to find out what was wrong when she began to shout.

"I HATE YOU INU-YASHA!" Kagome shouted as loud as she could, her voice racked with sobs. "I don't care if I never see you again! In fact, I never ever want to see you or any other demon for as long as I live! I HATE DEMONS!"

Inu-Yasha recoiled, hurt. Why was she saying this? He walked tentatively towards the clearing and, upon entering it, saw Kagome hurrying back the way she came, not even looking back…Not even once…

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A/N- No worries people! This is far from the end! Some peeks into the future of this fic: Naraku plays a big part soon and the Shikon no Tama makes many appearances in here also. I'm not going to tell you how though. Alright, that chapter was long_er_ and I'm very proud. Now, review!


	8. VIII: Alone

A/N-Woo hoo! It is officially the weekend and here is the next chapter for all you patient people!

Disclaimer-I do not own the Inu-Yasha characters. I really don't. You don't have to believe me if you don't want to. I don't mind ^_^

I don't feel motivated to do individual review responses today. I just want to get this chapter up in a hurry. Oh, but I have one response I want to make:

Paul Powell: Wow! Thank you! Your review seriously just made my day. Hell, it made my week. ^_^ And thanks for putting two of my stories on your faves list! 

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When Did Things Get Complicated

Chapter VIII

He sat on a fallen log in shock. Was that Kagome? Somehow, he didn't believe it could be her, but then again, he knew her scent and it was definitely her. But why? Why did she hate him? He didn't do anything as far as he knew. 

Much to his shame, tears began to roll down his cheeks. He was a sixteen-year old demon. He wasn't supposed to cry, especially not over a mortal girl. But it wasn't just any mortal girl; it was Kagome. Kagome whom he had known since he was eight years old. Kagome: she had been his friend when no one else would even look at him because he was a half-breed. She had been the very first person to see just him and not scorn him because he was a hanyou.  And she was a human girl. She had tossed aside everything she had been taught and told about demons to be his friend. 

He slowly made his way back towards the castle. He was so confused. He needed to talk to her but he couldn't exactly walk over to the mortal kingdom and ask to speak with her. They'd probably set the guards on him. He could only pray that she would be there in the clearing tomorrow after lessons, waiting for him.

Inu-Yasha stopped as he reached the castle gates and saw a man-a mortal man-leaving the castle.

Inu-Yasha stepped directly in his path. "What are you doing here?" he demanded.

"I don't think I have to answer that," the man said haughtily. "Now do excuse me for I have to be getting home."

Inu-Yasha hesitated and his father called from the doors, "Inu-Yasha, it's all right. Let him pass." So Inu-Yasha reluctantly moved aside to let the man pass. He didn't like that man.

"Who was that?" Inu-Yasha asked his father after the man was out of sight.

"Just one of the lords from the mortal realm," his father answered.

"Why was he here?" Inu-Yasha asked.

"Too many questions," his father said, teasingly tapping Inu-Yasha on the nose like he was six years old. "Sesshoumaru. We'll start rallying the support of all the nobles immediately!" 

"Support? Why?" Inu-Yasha asked his father.

"We expect war will be called upon us soon."

"War?" Inu-Yasha repeated.

"Yes. The king of the mortal kingdom is now dead. I saw to it myself."

Dead…Kagome's father…His own father had killed him…Kagome must have thought that he had something to do with this for some reason. But why? How could she think he had anything to do with this? Well, he didn't show up at the clearing but she must have realized he wasn't off helping his father murder hers! 

The next day, he hurried off to the clearing, fervently hoping she'd be there so he could explain himself to her, but she didn't come that day nor the next day. After two weeks of coming to the clearing and waiting for her, he gave up and, after looking at the clearing once more, went home.  

Kagome's mother and everyone else, for that matter, noticed a great change in Kagome. Instead of hurrying outside after lessons and coming back humming and skipping, she rarely left the castle at all. She didn't even leave the castle to visit Sango; Sango came to the castle to visit her. She didn't skip or hum and she obediently did as she was told, always. Even the servants remarked upon this among themselves.

"Kagome-hime is so changed," one of them commented.

"Who would've thought that losing her father could affect her so?" another one of them asked.

"I didn't think even the sky falling could keep her indoors."

The truth was, Kagome didn't only lose her father. She lost her father and her very best friend in one painful blow. It felt even worse to know that while Inu-Yasha had been partially responsible for her father's death and she knew it, she also knew that it was, in part, her fault too. Her brother had always told her that she was too trusting. Did Kagome listen to him? _Of course not,_ Kagome thought bitterly, and, in the end, he had been right. She should have listened to him. If she had…And it wasn't like they'd even gladly let her go outside if she wanted to, not with the war going on anyway.

Even though she knew it, she still couldn't believe it. She kept expecting to walk into her father's office and see him in there, talking to her brother but whenever she looked in there, it was wasn't her father sitting behind the desk; it was her brother, who took the throne when her father died. Kagome kept finding herself rushing out of the castle gates after lessons were over, skipping happily and then, remembering all that had happened, she would bow her head sadly and walk slowly back inside. 

Her father, one of the only people who didn't care that she was abnormal for a princess, and Inu-Yasha, another one of those people, were gone. Now, nothing stopped the nobles from whispering about her as she passed them in the halls. Sometimes she caught the whispers and other times she could only guess what they were saying.

"She always wears such simple dresses and she is the most supercilious person I have ever had the misfortune to meet," she had heard one of the ladies whisper to another.

They all thought Kagome haughty because she didn't want to talk to them. Why anyone would ever want to waste their time talking about nonsense like sewing and fashion and marriage was beyond her. They just thought that she thought herself to be too good to talk to them. Kagome had never felt more alone.

There were times when Kagome wondered if Inu-Yasha would be in the clearing if she went there. She doubted he would be since she had not been to the clearing for so long. He must have given up waiting for her by then. Truth was, even if he did lie to her and betray, she couldn't help but miss him and wish to see him again, if even for a short time. She wouldn't even mind if he was angry with her, as long as she could see him again. Thinking these thoughts to herself, she'd walk out the gates, only to pause for a moment and then walk back inside. 

"How's the war going brother?" Kagome asked one day, when visiting his study.

Shidosha looked up from a map he was studying and smiled. "Come now sister. A lady such as yourself shouldn't be worrying about a war. Let the men handle the war."

Kagome let out an unladylike snort. "No one believes me to be a lady here besides you and mother. Everyone else thinks I must have been switched at birth or I'm some kind of fox demon in disguise, and not a very good disguise at that."

"Well, I don't think it's going well for either side. Both are suffering great losses and supplies are running low. It's funny…It always seems like the demons know exactly where our troops are and where we'll attack next…It seems they're always one step ahead of us," Shidosha said, examining the map. Then he muttered. "The oddest thing…Lord Zennin's troops aren't moving very quickly. Something must be wrong…They must be running low on supplies and weapons…I must remember to check up on that…" 

Then there came a knock at the door and a man entered, bowing to Shidosha. "May I come in your majesty?"

"Ahh, general, of course," Shidosha said, standing up to greet him. "Kagome, would you excuse us please?"

Kagome reluctantly stood and left after curtsying. 

"Kagome, you don't _know_ that he even had anything to do with it," Sango sensibly told Kagome as Kagome looked out the window, watching her brother riding out with the army. Villagers were standing on the side of the road, bidding the warriors good luck in battle and a safe return but they all knew that many would not return, causing mothers, wives, and children to grieve. 

They were sitting in Kagome's bedchambers in the castle-well, Kagome standing and Sango sitting anyway. 

"How else could the demons have known exactly where to go to avoid most of the guards? I only told you and him and you certainly didn't tell."

"Anyone could have seen you Kagome," Sango pointed out.

"Yes, mortals could have seen me but how would the demons know about it? No one would talk to demons."

"You talked to a half demon," Sango again pointed out. "And besides, a demon could have captured the mortal and tortured him until he told them all of the secrets to the palace," Sango said. Kagome smiled slightly. Her friend had always been one for dramatics.

Kagome sighed and looked out the window and out over the forest.

"Kagome and a hanyou sittin' in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes lov-" Sango began to chant quietly, but cut off when Kagome threw a pillow at her head.

"You haven't used that chant since we were eight years old," Kagome said, shaking her head as if to say 'When will you grow up?'

"I thought it was about time to bring it back," Sango said. "And when you were eight you threw something at me too but I think it was a fish, not a pillow…"

Kagome sighed again.

"Hah! I knew it!" Sango triumphantly exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at Kagome. "You do love him! Admit it, you do!"

"I never said that!" Kagome protested.

"Yeah, but if you didn't, you would have argued with me over that 'sittin' in a tree' thing, but you didn't! You sighed, clearly admitting defeat!" Sango declared.

"He deceived me…He tricked me…" Kagome said, her voice emotionless. "I _can't_ love him."

Then Sango tactfully changed the subject. "I wish this war were over. I don't like living every day, thinking that any time, while I'm working in the garden or helping my mother clean the house, men might come to our house, only to bear the news that my father has died…" she said, tears springing to her eyes.

"I know. I feel the same way about my brother. War is not the way to sort out our differences…" 

"But there are no differences, remember? Years ago, I followed you into the forest and thought that he was attacking you and you proved to me that there were no differences," Sango said, remembering that day well. That was the day her whole way of thinking changed.  

"All demons are wicked and I hate them," Kagome said vehemently.

Sango gasped. "You can't mean that. You said so yourself: some are good; others are bad."

"I do mean it. The only reason I ever said that because he proved that to me but I was young and naïve and childish, but now I take it all back," Kagome said, avoiding saying his name-he being Inu-Yasha of course.

Sango sighed in resignation. Her friend was too stubborn to convince otherwise. She'd just have to realize it herself then. Sango said nothing more, leaving her friend to her thoughts.

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A/N-There! I updated! Hah! I'm so proud. I have been updating at least once a week since I started this fic. I think that's pretty good ^_^. Anywho, review! Wow, that rhymes! Oh yeah, everyone! Look out for my new Inu-Yasha fic soon! I think I'll post the first chapter on Sunday maybe. It's about an American bounty hunter named Inuyasha who gets an assignment to find and bring down Kouga, one of the leaders of the American underworld. To do that, he needs to find Kouga first so he tries to find out from someone who'd know: Kagome Higurashi, Kouga's girlfriend. Sounds interesting huh? Well, read it when I post it. I'm very proud of it ^_^ Now review!


	9. IX: Chance Meeting

A/N-Wahahaha! See guys? I'm posting twice this week! Feel happy! I know I am! I'm glad so many of you people like this story! I love it. I miss cute little Kagome and Inuyasha playing ball in the forest though. Oh well, on to the story! I was going to update on Sunday. I had this chappie ready and everything but ff.net wouldn't let me log in for some reason. It's all better now though.

Thanks to:

Rasberries-They get back together. Don't worry ^_^

SwtAngl53-I updated twice this week! ^_^

Jill-Wow! Thanks! Your review made me so happy that I danced ^_^

Ame Tenshi-Go read it! The first chapter should be up now! I hafta go read your story now ^_^

Inulover-I have no idea but they do get back together. I know that.

Slycat-Hmm…Maybe…***Grins secretively*** You are my faithful reviewer so I dedicate this chapter to you ^_^ I think you've reviewed every one of my chapters ever since I started this fic.

AzraelLight-Wow, your review made me happy ^_^ It does stink that I've only got sixty-one reviews. So pass the word and recommend my fic to your friends! ^_^

Disclaimer-You people need help if you thought I owned this stuff because I don't. So don't sue me because all you'll get are some used tissues (I have a cold right now) a Sharpie fine point pen that I use to outline my fanart and my other sketches and drawings, and a Revolutionary Girl Utena manga.

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When Did Things Get Complicated?

Chapter IX

(A/N-I think that's the Roman numeral for ten isn't it?)

Winter put the war on a brief hiatus. Neither side wanted to try to fight in the ice-cold weather and the biting winds, but as soon as spring arrived, the fighting resumed, much to the grief of families everywhere.

Kagome had tried to convince Shidosha to start negotiations for a peace treaty with the demons, seeing that Sango, Sango's mother, Kagome's mother, and so many others were always so worried and grief-stricken and her mother always looked so tired and sad, but he wouldn't listen. He just told her that they killed father and they deserved to die. She left out the part that she killed father and not the demons and that she deserved to die, not them. She did tell him that hate was not the answer to anything and war would do nothing but bring sadness and pain upon everyone-demons and mortals alike-but he wouldn't listen to that either.

"Shidosha, please listen to me!" Kagome begged one day as she visited him in his study, where he was once again bent over a map, sticking pins in certain areas where he knew where his troops were and where the demon troops were. She had just come from talking to her mother and saw her sad, weary eyes, streaks of gray in her once beautiful, raven-black hair, and lines upon her forehead that Kagome swore were not there just last year. "Father wouldn't want war! He never wanted it! He strived his entire life to prevent it! And now, once he's gone, you want to destroy the fragile balance and peace he worked his whole life for? Do you think he wants that? All his hard work, gone as soon as he leaves? How dare you crush what he created! For shame brother! If father were here-"

"Kagome!" he shouted. "He is not here! How dare you accuse that I'm ruining his work! I've heard quite enough!" he said coldly, dismissing her.

"But I-" Kagome protested, trying hard to convince him.

"I said, ENOUGH! I'll not hear anymore. Mother has cosseted you too much. You don't have proper etiquette and you don't realize when you've been dismissed," her brother said angrily, between clenched teeth.

Kagome sighed angrily and left his study, slamming the door shut behind her. Tears stung her eyes but she told herself that she wasn't going to cry. She wouldn't let anyone have the satisfaction of seeing her cry. Perhaps she shouldn't have gotten angry. It only provoked anger in him and two angry people solved nothing but she couldn't help it. Why wouldn't he listen? She pounded on the wall, trying to let off her frustration and needle-working, like her mother would tell her to do ("It teaches one patience and composure…") wouldn't work; she'd stab at the cloth with her needle, just making her angrier and earning her some sore fingers as well.  

She didn't even know her brother anymore. He used to be so patient and would listen to anyone. Is this what war and hate did to people? Kagome had hate in her; was she like her brother? She didn't want to be like him. When she had been little, she had wanted to be exactly like him and father but now she didn't want to be like Shidosha anymore-not while he was like this anyway.

She flopped down on her large, cushiony bed and buried her head in her pillow. What would she do now? She couldn't convince him so what now? Would the war be over when everyone dies? Is that the end her brother was waiting for? What happens if it's not the demon side that's eliminated but them? No, she'd have to convince him. She'd prove to him that she's just as determined and stubborn as him. So what now? Should she just walk into his study and refuse to leave him alone until he listened to her reasoning? That would seem a bit childish…Sometimes Kagome felt like it would be a blessing to be seven or eight years old again…Things seemed so much easier when you were a kid. _Since when had things got so complicated anyway?_ Kagome asked herself. 

She could go out and try to convince the nobles to not support the war, but then it'd seem like she was trying to steal the throne from her brother, which she certainly wasn't trying to do. She didn't want the throne anyway. But then how? Kagome sighed. She supposed she'd just have to keep trying to convince him, no matter how angry he got. He just had to listen. 

Kagome looked out the window. There was no moon outside, shrouding the lands in darkness and shadow. Was this some sort of bad omen? Then Kagome scolded herself. Of course it wasn't an omen. It happened every month. She looked down at the forest. She reached underneath her bed and grabbed the sword and scabbard that was hidden beneath it. Her mother nor her brother knew about the sword. She had taken it from the armory, not expecting it to be missed and as far as she knew, no one even noticed it was gone. If she was going outside, she'd need it. Bandits and thieves roamed the forests at night.

 She turned around and left her room, creeping silently down the halls. Everything was different in the dark. The bright tapestries that hung along the halls looked dull and grim and the colored flower arrangements and vases sitting on pedestals stood in shadow. The only light Kagome passed was a sliver of light coming from beneath the door to her brother's study. She crept stealthily into the kitchen, careful not to wake anyone and walked out the door. 

It was a late spring-almost early summer-night so it wasn't cold outside, even in the dead of night. She climbed the ivy wall, the very same one the demons climbed to kill her father and, after dropping to the other side, pressed herself against the wall and slid along it to avoid being seen by the sentries that were posted along the top of the walls. Then she hurried towards the village, but before she got there, she turned slightly to stand before the forest. She hurried inside. She needed to think and for some reason, the forest helped her think more clearly than being stuck inside an oppressing room. And she still felt drawn to this forest. She missed going there everyday.

Before long, she broke out of the cover of the trees and entered a clearing-their clearing. She sighed sadly and sat on the ground, her back pressed against a tree trunk, hugging her knees to her chest. She then buried her head in her arms and cried, much like she would have when she was seven and the noble children weren't being very kind to her because she didn't seem to fit in and was different from them. Why couldn't that still be her biggest problem? Instead, she had to try to stop a war and hate and deaths. 

"K-Kagome?" someone asked quietly, upon entering the clearing and noticing that someone was already there.

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He held a lock of his black hair in front of him and looked at it. After a few moments of looking at it, he scowled at it in disgust. "Damn hair…" he muttered.

His black hair was the cause of much ridicule in the court. They all knew he turned human once every month. They didn't know when-except his brother and his father-but they knew he did.  His brother taunted him for years and still did. They all hated humans and they had always taunted him about his human half. He remembered crying when he was little because they all laughed at him behind his back. He hadn't had any friends at all until Kagome came. Demons didn't want to be friends with someone who was half human and human children didn't want to be friends with someone who was half demon. After he met Kagome, she told him that often she felt the same way as he did because she didn't quite fit in in her world as well. It had always made him feel better to know that he wasn't the only one with these kinds of feelings.

He climbed out of the tree and began to walk deeper into the forest. It was late at night. Everyone else was asleep but he had felt restless so he had gone outside and into the forest. He was deep in thought so he didn't realize where he was until he heard someone crying and he looked up. The person wasn't far away because if the person were far away, he wouldn't have been able to hear it since he didn't have his excellent hearing right then. He couldn't smell very well either. He had a human nose and ears that night. Walking towards the sound, he soon found himself on the edge of a clearing. He pulled back a branch and looked out over the green grass but didn't see anything. 

He frowned. He could have sworn the crying was coming from here. Could his human ears really be that bad? He walked into the clearing and then spotted someone's shoe sticking out from behind a rock. He walked around it, keeping his distance and tried to see who was crying. It was a girl. He squinted, trying to get a better look and then jumped back slightly as he realized he recognized her.

"K-Kagome?" he asked, happiness welling inside of him.

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A/N-Yay! They're together in the clearing again! Too bad she beats the crap outta him…Just kidding ^_^ She doesn't do that. I'm listening to the Ranma½ first opening theme song right now. I love that song. It's so funny. Now I'm listening to "Hit Me With Your Best Shot." Anywho, now review people! Oh and the first chapter of my bounty hunter fic should be up too. Read it. I, personally, love it. Well, I would right? It's so much fun to write ^_^


	10. X: Missed You

A/N-I'm back guys! It's the weekend! Cheer with me! Woo hoo! Here's the next chappie for you people ^_^

Disclaimer-I do not own the Inuyasha characters. Rumiko Takahashi does (Lucky duck…) 

Thank you-You guys so know how to get me through the day and the week even! You guys are great ^_^

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When Did Things Get Complicated

Chapter X

She jerked her head up and squinted into the darkness, trying to see who it was between tear blurred eyes. Her eyes weren't adjusted to the dark since her head had been buried in her arms. She thought she recognized the voice but she couldn't be too sure. She jumped up and whipped out her sword. 

"Who's there? I'm armed and if you take one step towards me I'll slice you in half. I _do_ know how to use it," she said threateningly.

"Kagome?" Inu-Yasha said again, walking closer so that she might see him.

She wiped her tears away and tried to see who it was again. That voice…She knew it…But it couldn't be him. His white hair would stick out like a tropical bird in a coop of house sparrows. 

"Inu-Yasha?" she asked uncertainly, squinting as her eyes began to adjust to the darkness. Then she saw him…But it wasn't him. He had black hair…But it was him. "Inu-Yasha? What happened?"

He reached up and scratched his head awkwardly. "Well, I know I should've told you…But…I turn human once every month when there's no moon. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I meant to really…I just-"

"Inu-Yasha!" Kagome cried, letting her sword fall to the ground. Then she ran over and threw her arms around him, sobbing.

Getting over his surprise, he wrapped his arms around her and buried his face into her hair.

Then, as if remembering something, Kagome pulled back and glared at him. "What are you doing here?"

Inu-Yasha smirked and then looked around the clearing as if examining it. "Nope, not there…"

"What's not there?" Kagome snapped.

"Your name. It doesn't say 'Kagome's clearing' so doesn't that make it everyone's?" he asked.

A smile tugged at her lips for the briefest of moments but then it was gone, replaced once again by the glare. Then she turned and started to make her way out of the clearing. 

"No, no come back," Inu-Yasha called, running after her and grabbing her arm.

She wrenched it out of his grasp, which wasn't too hard to do when he was human because he didn't have his demon strength.

"Why should I?" she asked coldly.

That stung. He wasn't about to pretend it didn't. His face fell, but he went on determinedly. "Listen to me Kagome!" he called as she began to leave again. 

Again she asked, "Why should I?"

"Why won't you just listen to me?" he asked, running after her again.

She stopped as she remembered herself saying those words to her brother and how he still wouldn't listen. She didn't want to be like her brother. She wanted to do everything possible to be the exact opposite of her brother. She sighed and turned. "Talk fast."

"You think I helped kill your father don't you?" Inu-Yasha asked.

"I don't think, I know!" Kagome told him, eyes flashing dangerously.

He grabbed her shoulders and made her look at him. "Well then you know wrong! I didn't do anything! That day that I was late coming to the clearing….My father scheduled extra lessons for me and I didn't even know about it until the late afternoon. You've got to believe me!"

"Why should I?" she asked quietly, looking away, tears welling up in her eyes again.

"I came to the clearing and you were gone. I was going to tell you the next day but you didn't come. I didn't even find out that your father was…dead until I got home from coming here and finding you gone," Inu-Yasha told her, trying to make her believe him. "I had nothing to do with it! I tried to tell you. I came to the clearing everyday for two weeks trying to find the chance to tell you!"

Kagome pressed her lips together in a thin line and then looked up at him, shoving him, hard. "You had nothing to do with it? Nothing to do with it?!" she cried, shoving him again and again to emphasize her words. "You told them! You liar! You told them! I trusted you and you told them!" she shouted, jabbing her finger into his chest, punctuating key words. "Human aren't the liars. Demons are the wicked," jab in the chest, "evil," another jab in the chest, "backstabbers," two more jabs in the chest. "I can't believe you! You have some nerve just talking to me right now when I made it quite clear last time that I wanted nothing more to do with you!"

Inu-Yasha shoved her back, getting angry now. "I don't know what you're talking about! What did I tell them?"

Kagome shoved him back. "You know what you told them!"

Inu-Yasha shoved her again. "Enlighten me because I don't know what I told them but you seem to know exactly what I said."

"You told them," she said, spitting out the word 'them,' "how to get into the castle!"

"How am I supposed to know how to get into your castle?" he asked.

"I told you, that's how! I know I did because I remember it! I was up in that tree," she said, stabbing her finger into the air towards a tree not too far off, "and you said I smelled like oranges and then I told you that I had to hurry out of the castle before my mother stopped me. Then you asked if I had to sneak out and I said yes. You asked how. I answered, 'climbing the wall' and you seemed to be so amazed that I could scale so large a wall and I told you there was ivy towards the back where the kitchens are, where there aren't many guards!" Kagome shouted, her eyes tearing up again. "I told you everything. I trusted you and now I don't even now you!"

"You remembered all that?" Inu-Yasha asked quietly.

Kagome turned away. "Of course I do."

"Kagome, I didn't tell them anything. They still don't even know I'm friends with you. My father and my brother think I've meeting some demon noble's daughter in the woods. I never told them anything. I still never tell them anything! Did you really think I would do something like that?" he asked, hurt that she would think something so low of him. 

"But…" Kagome said, blinking. She was torn with indecision. Was he telling the truth? She wanted to say that he was but she still couldn't be sure. "Then how'd they know?"

Inu-Yasha shrugged. "I have no idea. The only thing I remember of that day after leaving the forest was that man."

"What man?"

"A really creepy man actually, now that I remember it. I never did figure out what he was doing there but I didn't like him," Inu-Yasha recalled.

"You didn't do it…?" Kagome asked softly, as if just taking all this in. "You didn't do it…" she said louder this time and with more certainty. Then she burst into tears again and threw her arms around him. "I'm so sorry Inu-Yasha. I can't believe I ever thought you'd do anything like that. I'm so sorry. I should've come back and listened to you and now I'm just as bad as my brother. He won't listen to me no matter how many times I try to tell him. He just won't listen and I'm afraid that one day, after a day of fighting, the troops will march back and my brother won't be with them. Sango has the same fears as me about her father and mother looks so tired and sad and I can't do anything about it because he won't listen to me…" 

"You know, if I were ten years old again and you came crying to be, I'd call you a sissy," Inu-Yasha said, recalling a time when Kagome was crying in the clearing when he was ten years old and she was nine. She had told him that she didn't feel like she belonged anywhere because she was so different from all of the other noble ladies in her father's court. Inu-Yasha had felt like that numerous times but he had been too introvert to tell her that so he just called her a sissy. Then she just laughed and pushed him to the ground saying, "I'll show you sissy!"

Kagome let out something between a laugh and a sob. He couldn't really tell which. 

"I've tried to talk to my father too and he won't listen either. I just don't understand it. He always seems to know just where your people's troops are…It seems to me like you have a traitor among your people," Inu-Yasha mused.

"What?" Kagome gasped, pulling back slightly to look up at him.

"Well, father has a map in his study that has pins where all your troops are. It looked like he knew where they all were. And that map certainly couldn't have been made by any of my father's people since none of them ever wander into the mortal lands and don't know the land enough to make a map of it," Inu-Yasha said, and, seeing he still had his arms around Kagome, he blushed and then stepped back a little bit.

Kagome frowned. A traitor? But who? That would explain the demons knowing about the ivy and the guards…Plenty of people would have seen her perhaps…But would they really sink so low as to go against their own people? Who would do such a thing? 

Kagome sighed in frustration and sat with her back pressed against the rock again. "When did things get so complicated?"

Inu-Yasha shrugged. "When we grew up I suppose."

"When did that happen?" Kagome mused. 

"I don't know," Inu-Yasha said, looking around the clearing. He hadn't been there for so long. This was the first night he had come there since the early fall and it was late spring now. He knew that place so well. He remembered the tree where he had first met Kagome and the tree he had found her sitting in the next day. 

He turned back towards Kagome to find her studying him. He shifted nervously. 

"You haven't changed a bit," Kagome remarked, smiling.

"Well let's hope I have. If I haven't changed since I was eight years old I'm in trouble," Inu-Yasha said, smirking slightly. He drew himself up. "Have I grown taller at least?"

Kagome laughed. Then she sighed. "So what now?"

Inu-Yasha said nothing. There was nothing he could really say to that. He didn't have an answer for her though he wished he did. 

She sighed again. "Has your father shoved you into marriage yet?"

Inu-Yasha shook his head and leaned against a tree. "No, not to say that he didn't try. How about your mother? Did she set up meetings with all of the eligible nobles' sons?"

"Pretty much but luckily I find something wrong with all of them. My mother is getting frustrated as you can imagine," Kagome said, resting her chin on her knees. After some moments of silence, Kagome yawned (A/N-Weird…Just as I wrote that Kagome yawned, I yawned…Weird…) and stood. "Well, as much as I'd prefer to stay here for the rest of my life, I had better get some sleep tonight or I'll pass out at breakfast tomorrow."

Inu-Yasha nodded and looked at the sky, just barely tinted with purplish-pink light. "I'm glad you came," he said, still looking up at the sky.

Kagome nodded. "I am too." She walked over and gave him another hug and then looked up at him. "I've missed you so much. Winter was absolute torture. I had no one to talk to except Sango and she only came when her mother didn't need any help around the house. And, you know, even though I thought you betrayed me and I thought that it was my fault he died, I still wanted to see you."

"Well, at least you had Sango. I had no one. I never talked to my brother. I still don't, if I can help it. And my father talked to me every once in awhile, but it was always about war strategies or things to do with ruling a kingdom or some crap like that."

"I'm sorry," Kagome said again.

"You already said that."

"I know but I'm saying it again. I'm so glad I have you back," she said, leaning her head against his chest.

He pulled her back slightly and looked at her. "How can you have me back when you didn't lose me to begin with?" he asked softly.

Kagome smiled, her eyes shining. Then she leaned forward and kissed him, surprising them both. She jumped back. "Sorry…I just-"

He cut her off by pulling her back into his arms and kissing her. Her lips felt warm against his and it felt so good to hold her in his arms. He had missed her even more than he had thought. But now she was back and he was so glad that she was.

After their lips parted, Kagome opened her eyes. "Your hair…It's back to normal and your ears are back."

"Yes," he said, reaching up and feeling his ears. "Damn ears…"

"I like your ears," Kagome said, smiling and reaching up to feel them. Then she looked at the sky which was turning a light yellowish-pink color and she jumped. "Oh! I have to get home. My mother will be furious if she finds out I went outside at night."

Inu-Yasha grabbed her hand as she was turning to leave. "Meet me here later?"

"I'll come after dinner," Kagome told him and then hurriedly left the clearing.

Inu-Yasha smiled and left the clearing as well, whistling all the way home.  

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A/N-Hahaha! I'm so happy they're back together again ^_^ I love this chapter   
***Hugs the chapter*** Now review and tell me what you think. Feel free to IM me or email me with any suggestions or comments or questions or whatever.


	11. XI: Mama Steps In

A/N-I had this chapter ready last Sunday but my sister wouldn't let me on the computer and then I didn't have time to post it during the week. Uhh…I had something else to say but I forget it now…^_^;;; 

Disclaimer-I don't own the Inuyasha characters. 

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When Did Things Get Complicated?

Chapter XI

"Hah! I knew it!" Sango cried triumphantly. "I knew that you-"

"Shhh!!!" Kagome hissed, covering Sango's mouth. She stepped back when Sango calmed down.

"I'll miss you! Do you think they'd let me visit?" Sango asked.

"Miss me? Who?" Kagome asked.

"The demons! I figured that you'll probably go over there. But even better if he comes over here!" Sango told her.

"Wha? No! This-this can't go anywhere. I don' know what I was thinking! I shouldn't have. I wasn't thinking at all! If I had actually stopped to think it all through, I would've realized what a stupid idea it was," Kagome said, pacing he length of her room as Sango watched her go back and forth.

"Love isn't stupid," Sango told her seriously.

"Well, maybe it's not even love. We wouldn't know what love is," Kagome told her.

"Then what is it?"                                

"I don't know!"

"Is it lust then?" Sango asked.

"What?! No! Of course it isn't!" Kagome told her, appalled.

"Well, that only leaves love then and love certainly isn't stupid."

"This kind is! Do you realize how furious my mother will be? If it doesn't make her frail heart explode first, she'll lock me in the highest, most remote tower of the castle! She'd never let me out of her sight again! And what about his family? They'll slice me in half! Either way, I lose."

"Inu-Yasha didn't slice you in half and he's a demon," Sango pointed out. "And since when do you care what your mother thinks? For as long as I can remember, you couldn't care less what anyone thought."

"He was a child! I was a child! We're not children anymore! It's not that easy!" Kagome told her.

"It's only hard when you make it hard," Sango told her and then stood up. "I have to be running home for dinner now."

"I've got to be heading down for dinner too," Kagome said, sighing. "I'll see you later Sango."

Even though she had been talking about how it was all so hard and it wouldn't work out, Kagome couldn't help but smile. She was still smiling when she entered the dining hall.

"You seem to be in a good mood little sister," her brother, Shidosha commented when she took her seat after giving her mother a kiss on the cheek.

"I am…brother," Kagome said, though she had to force the polite words from her mouth and keep the ones she wanted to say inside at the same time.

"It's so good to see you smiling again Kagome," her mother said, putting on a strained smile. The war and the loss of her husband had taken its toll on Kikyo. Her eyes seemed weary and sad and her hair, streaked with gray, was piled listlessly atop her head. Lines ran across her forehead that weren't there before and she seemed so frail now.

"Guess what, Kagome?" Hachimitsu piped up. She didn't wait for an answer before going on, "Mama says my sewing's getting better. She says it might even be better than yours."

Shidosha chuckled. "You need to learn how to keep some things to yourself little one."

Hachimitsu frowned. "Why? She did say so."

"Yes, but yours would not be better than hers if she practiced," Kikyo rebuked lightly, looking over at Kagome. "I was only kidding with Hachimitsu when I said that."

"It's fine mama. I know my sewing isn't the greatest thing to look at," Kagome said, smiling. 

"Now, son, tell me. How is the war going?" her mother asked.

Shidosha sighed. "Hmm…Both sides are suffering great loses. We're going to have to try harder. Right now we're-"

"Or we could negotiate a peace treaty," Kagome muttered before she could stop herself.

"If we reach a treaty, the demons will just attack us while we're not on our guard," her brother said.

"You don't know that," Kagome said challengingly, but immediately clamped her mouth shut. She needed to know when to shut up.

"Yes I do. They're demons. Lying is what they do just as we humans try to keep the peace," her brother said casually.

"P-p-peace?!" Kagome sputtered. "What peace? Is fighting how humans keep the peace? Humans have a lousy way of keeping the peace!"

"Peace cannot be gotten without bloodshed," her brother answered calmly.

"Bloodshed? No, bloodshed does not lead to peace! Bloodshed leads to more fighting and bloodshed. And not all demons lie! Some demons are good; others are bad, just as some humans are bad. Demons are not perfect and neither are humans," Kagome angrily said to him.

"Kagome! I've heard enough! Father w-"

"Father? Father wanted peace! He worked his whole life to create the shaky peace between the two kingdoms and as soon as he passes away, you crush the peace like a flooded river destroys a rickety bridge! Father didn't want war!" Kagome shouted, standing up now.

"If father didn't want war, why did he always talk to me about war strategies and training techniques?" Shidosha asked.

"That was as a last resort! Not so you could wage war as soon as he died!" Kagome shouted.

"Kagome," her mother said, pulling her into her seat. "Apologize to your brother."

Kagome's mouth dropped open in an unprincess-like manner as she sank into her seat. "You want war too mama? Do you have any idea what those families go through out there? The little children wait outside everyday, just praying that their fathers will come home safely with the troops. Do you have any idea how crushed the families are when the troops come home and see that their brother or their husband isn't with them?"

Her mother set her lips in a thin line as if thinking. "You are right Kagome. Ever since he died, I've been too wrapped up in my grief to give a thought to the people, hoping that your brother and the noble lords would take care of it all. Now I see that I must step in. I will open negotiations first thing tomorrow."

"M-Mother…This is crazy! Demons won't be restrained by a piece of paper with signatures on it! They're not to be trusted!" Shidosha protested, standing up.

"Shidosha! Is this war about your father or your own prejudice against demons? At first I thought that you were doing it to avenge your father's death, but now I think that your father's death is just your excuse to slay some demons," Kikyo said gently, yet sternly, rebuking him. "Thank you Kagome dear…For making me remember what's important right now."

Shidosha reluctantly sat back down and continued eating, having no more arguments to make.

Kagome's mouth dropped open again. That was it then…It was over? Kagome couldn't believe it…Just like that and life was back to normal. Almost anyway. It was over. Kagome smiled and gave her mother a quick kiss on the cheek before hurrying out of the dining hall.

She quickly ran towards the forest, stopping only to tell Sango the good news. She smiled as she spotted, upon entering the clearing, Inu-Yasha sitting up in the tree he had been in on the first day they met over seven years ago. He was staring off into the distance somewhere so she guessed him to be thinking.

She walked quietly to stand beneath the tree and looked up at him, shielding her eyes from the sun.

He smiled, though his eyes seemed sad, and, without even looking down at her, asked, "Are you trying to sneak up on me?"

Kagome sighed. "Yes, that was what I was originally trying to do. It didn't work too well I suppose," she said, climbing up into the tree. "But I have great news! My mother is looking into opening peace negotiations with your people tomorrow."

He looked at her and smiled, sadly, again. "You did it, didn't you?"

"Umm…Well, sort of. In a way I had something to do with it," Kagome admitted sheepishly. "I was arguing with my brother and my mother was listening. Turns out, I was talking to the wrong person the whole time. I should've just gone to my mother to begin with."

He smiled ruefully and shook his head.

"What? What's wrong? We'll have peace. The war will be over," Kagome began but he interrupted her.

He shook his head again. "No, no, Kagome. There'll be no peace."

"What? My mother is openi-" Kagome began, frowning.

"Kagome, my father's dead."

Kagome gasped. "Did he die in battle? Why didn't I hear of it?"

"No, not in battle. He was killed by someone. We don't know who or why or how. It happened a few hours before I came here. Now my brother has the throne and he's not going to listen to your mother. My father would've listened. He was very reasonable but Sesshoumaru is not going to."

"What? B-but…He has to!" Kagome protested, distraught. "If he doesn't there'll be no end!"

"I know, but Sesshoumaru won't care. He'll be glad when all of the humans are dead."

Kagome's shoulders slumped and she blinked in shock. Sighing, she asked hopefully, "Well, couldn't you…convince him or something?"

Inu-Yasha snorted. "Are you kidding me? I couldn't convince Sesshoumaru of anything." He laughed sadly. "You know, I didn't much care for my father when he was alive, but now that he's gone…" 

Kagome had nothing really to say to that. Kagome sighed and tried to lean back, forgetting that she was in a tree. She squeaked as she realized there was nothing behind her for her to lean back on except air. 

Seeing that she was losing her balance and was about to fall, Inu-Yasha grabbed her hand and pulled her back onto the branch. He laughed. "You can't do that in a tree."

"Hmph," Kagome huffed, glaring down at the branch she was sitting on.

He laughed again and turned her carefully around so that she could lean against him and wrapped his arms around her waist, burying his face in her soft black hair.

They were silent for a moment before Kagome finally spoke. "You will try, won't you?"

He looked down at her and said, "Of course I'll try. No promises though…"

"All I'm asking is that you try," Kagome said, satisfied that he would at least attempt to talk to his brother.  

They sat in silence for a few moments, Kagome content to lean comfortably against him with his warm breath on her neck.

"Kagome?" Inu-Yasha asked softly.

"Mmm?" Kagome asked drowsily. The sleep she had been missing for awhile because of all her worries about the war, her brother, her mother, and everyone was beginning to take it's toll on her.

"I-I love you," he said softly.

"I love you too," Kagome whispered sleepily, because she knew that she did, no matter how much she tried to deny it. Immediately though, she regretted her words and tensed up slightly.

He turned her around so that he could look at her face. "What's wrong?" he asked, concerned. "Should I have not said anything?"

"N-no…It's just…" Kagome said, not sure how to explain what she was feeling. She was feeling hopeless, or maybe it was helpless…Whatever it was, it was confusing her and she didn't like it.

"Just what?"

"Well…So we love each other. So what?" Kagome asked.

"So what? How ca-" Inu-Yasha began but Kagome cut him off.

"There's nothing we can do about it at all! So what now?" Kagome asked. "What'll happen when-"

He kissed her gently on the forehead. "Why do we need to think about when or later? Why can't we just think about now?" he asked softly.

"Because no matter what, now will slowly but surely become when and later," Kagome insisted.

"Well, then we'll run away," Inu-Yasha suggested. "You always told me when we were younger how you wanted to."

Kagome sighed. "We're not eight years old anymore! We have to do something about this war. We can't run from this. Running will only make it worse." 

"You said your mother was handling it now," Inu-Yasha pointed out.

"And you said that your brother wouldn't listen, remember?" Kagome reminded him.

Inu-Yasha sighed and leaned back against the tree. "You're right, or course…You know, my old man was the only one keeping all of the nobles and everyone else from saying their insults aloud. Now that he's gone…" he said, looking out over the tree tops towards the demon realm and clenching his fist, "…I'm all alone again…"

"You blockhead! You're not alone and you never will be! Not as long as I'm alive anyway," Kagome told him, lightly hitting his shoulder.

Inu-Yasha looked down at her, smiling faintly. She was right, again. Ever since he met Kagome, he hadn't been alone anymore. It was a strange realization. He had been so used to being alone, he didn't notice when he wasn't. She was the only person to not see him as a worthless half-breed, but as a friend. 

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A/N-Uhh…I really have nothing else to say…I'm just not very loquacious (Waha! I used a vocab word! Bonus points for me! Wee!) today…That is so weird because any other day I always have a lot to say. It's not always very important but it's still stuff to say. Wow, that was a long author's note for having nothing to say…


	12. XII: But She Steps Out

A/N-Yay! New chappie! ***Does new-chappie happy dance*** Individual review responses are going to be at the end of the chappie this time. I just felt like putting them there. But thank you all you reviewers! You guys are so great! 

Disclaimer-I do not own Inuyasha or any of the Inuyasha characters. Do you really think I'd be here if I did? I don't think I would. I would be in some studio in Japan drawing manga in which Inuyasha realizes Kikyo is a dead bitch and Kagome is much better and that he loves Kagome not Kikyo. That's what I'd be doing. Yup…

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When Did Things Get Complicated?

Chapter XII

"Your mother and mine were friends you know," Kagome told him as they sat up in the tree. "They grew up together. Their parents were close friends so they spent a lot of time with each other. I found that out a few years ago. Mama and I were in the library and it was raining so we had nothing much to do but sit and share stories. She told me about her childhood. She said that she was so upset when her friend had to leave for the demon realm. Mama also said that Lady Kizuna's parents were sad because they thought she would be…well eaten."

Inu-Yasha looked out over the forest again. "My father loved her very much, more than anyone thought he ever would. It tore him up when she died in childbed. I didn't know her, but father said that if I did, I would've liked her." He smiled faintly. "He said that when she first entered his castle, she held her head up proudly and didn't falter. She walked right up to him and greeted him warmly. She always seemed strong-willed and intelligent. When the nobles subtly insulted her because she was human, she always answered the same, polite, yet biting way: 'I-as everyone should be-am proud of my blood.' He said they all respected her for that."

A single tear rolled down his cheek. Kagome used her sleeve to wipe it away.

He looked back down at her, and smiled. "You know, whenever he talked about her, I was strongly reminded of you." 

She smiled into his shoulder. Her mother was going to open peace negotiations, Shidosha would have to listen, the war would be over, the killing would be over, and she had Inu-Yasha again. Her world was almost perfect again. Kagome slept that night, knowing that everything would be okay now.

She knew wrong.

The next morning, before the sun had even risen, Kagome heard ear-piercing screams fill the air. Kagome sat up quickly and scrambled out of bed. Who was screaming? Why? Only the servants were up at this hour. Could one of them have injured themselves? Kagome drew on a robe and hurried down the hall, rushing towards the screams. She picked up speed as she got more and more nervous. She was sure the screams were coming from the same wing her room was in, which was the wing with all of the royal bedrooms. 

She turned a corner to see a maid standing in the hall outside the door, staring inside and screaming. Other servants and maids were already coming down the hall to investigate. One of the servants, holding a tray of warm water and towels, stared in shock through the door, her tray clattering to the floor. 

Kagome looked around, just becoming aware of her surroundings. "No…" she whispered to herself. That was her mother's room. "Mama!!" Kagome cried, rushing over towards the room, impolitely brushing the servants aside when they tried to stop her. "Mama!" 

Kagome gasped as she entered the chamber. Her mother was on the floor, a puddle of blood around her. "No…Mama…" Kagome whispered, stepping slowly into the room, her feet feeling as heavy as lead, and kneeling beside her mother's body. Kagome reached out a hand and touched her mother's cheek. It was cold, so cold. "No, no, wake up mama…Wake up…You have to wake up," Kagome said softly, shaking her mother's limp shoulders gently. "Mama, please…Don't scare me like this." She shook her shoulders harder now. "Mama, wake up! You have to! No…Please! You can't leave me like this!"

Kagome stood stiffly, turning away from her mother's body as if turning away would make it all go away. "This can't be happening…" Kagome whispered. Then she turned, remembering the blood. She turned her mother's body over gently, looking over it. Then she saw it: a wound in the middle of her back. It was a wound from a knife or some other sharp weapon. 

Kagome gasped, pulling her hands away as if touching it made her guilty somehow. But who? Why? Why would anyone do this? Who would be so cruel?

"Kagome, sister, come away from there," Shidosha said gently, taking her shoulders and pulling her up. She looked at him. His face was grim, set, and unreadable. 

"Brother, mama…She's gone…" Kagome said dazedly.

"I know. Come away, you shouldn't see this," he said, turning her towards the door. 

Kagome walked out slowly, still as if in a daze. What was going on? After her father's death, everything seemed to go downhill. First, he passed away, then war broke out, then Shidosha just changed, then Inu-Yasha's father was killed, and now this. Why was this all happening? How did they deserve this? How did she deserve this? How could anyone deserve this?

Later, while walking slowly down the hall, heading for nowhere in particular, Kagome passed Shidosha's study. She stopped when she heard voices.

"…I can't find it your highness. It was here this morning," a voice said. Kagome recognized that voice. It belonged to Lord Naraku (A/N-Dun dun dun! Sorry, had to do that…), one of the lords of the kingdom.

"The Shikon no Tama's gone? Should we still fight today?" another voice asked. Kagome recognized that voice as well. It was her brother. Since when had he been such good friends with Lord Naraku?

"I believe we should. We can't always depend upon the power of the jewel," Lord Naraku said.

Kagome frowned. Jewel? Shikon no Tama? What was that? What were they talking about? Power? They had a jewel with power? Why would they use that for battle?

Kagome jumped back and ran down the hall, ducking around a corner as she heard footsteps coming towards the door.

Lord Naraku opened the door and peered outside, his eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Lord Naraku?" Shidosha asked.

"I thought I heard something…" Naraku said, and then straightened and shut the door again.

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A/N-Naughty Kagome! You're not supposed to eavesdrop on important meetings like that! Tsk, tsk, tsk…Ooh guys! Read my new Inuyasha fic! Kagome gets amnesia! It gets pretty funny ^_^ Now, for the review responses:

Emily Tseng: I am blown away by his civility too. While I'm writing this I'm just thinking about how strange it would be if Inuyasha were like this in the show. It really doesn't fit which is why this is an A/U fic. I swear! She's super territorial about the computer! It drives me insane! And then she starts yelling at me that I'm on the computer too much! Gah!

Rasberries: Yes, it is sad…But the end is sorta happy! Most of the end is happy…Some of it is sad…That's all I can tell you ^_^

Moo-Moo-chan: You almost cried? I did cry! I'm just super sensitive though. I cried in Bambi and Lion King and I even cried in Glitter. Sad huh?

DragonGlare: I will continue this since I really like it ^_^

Kazumi: Wow, what a compliment! I don't think I can handle that sort of compliment! But you know, if I hear it enough, maybe I'll learn to handle it ^_~ Just kidding

XP-DarkAngel: A Sesshoumaru fan, eh? Uhh……

duatbunny690: U updated updated updated! Wee! 

Cute But Psycho: You'll see what happens ^_^ ***Strokes the window and in a Don't Say a Word Voice*** I'll never tellll….

Phoenix Isis: I'm a die-hard Inuyasha/Kagome fan too ^_^ Unfortunately, they don't consider that an option, though they really should…I missed a word on an English vocab test once because I spelled phoenix wrong…I just remembered that and I don't know why…

Inuyashachic515: They…Wait, I can't tell you! :P

Slycat: …No more sugar. I'm cutting you off. ^_^ 

jill: I'm glad you love it! 

inulover: I know, aren't they cute? ^_^

Ame Tenshi: Heh heh….*In a Don't Say a Word Voice as she strokes the window* I'll never telll…I will get your fanfiction up on my site! I just haven't had the time to do anything to my site for awhile now but I will get it up on the weekend! It's my goal for the weekend!


	13. XIII: Knight in Shining Armor

A/N-Wee! New chappie! I have nothing else to say except avoid public displays of idiocy. Don't ask, long story…Oh wow! I just realized that I have over 100 reviews for this story now! Wee! Yay! Celebrate! ***Does happy dance*** The one who gives me my 150th review gets a cookie!

Disclaimer-Today, I tried to buy some Poptarts from my school's vending machine but it ate my dollar and me, being my not-quite-there and not-thinking-properly self, I tried it again and it ate my dollar again. So now I have no dollars so you can't sue me because you won't get any dollars. You can have this pencil that the school sharpener ate though. It's a very nice pencil except it's really small…

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**When Did Things Get Complicated?**

**Chapter VIII**

Kagome was lost in her thoughts and grief all day. Her mother was gone. First her father, now her mother. Who would be next? Would she be next? It seemed like the war had brought a plague upon them all, causing them to slowly but surely drop like flies. And now what about the negotiations? Would her brother honor their mother's wishes and work out a peace with the demons? Surely not…And who? Who would kill her mother? They still couldn't find out who had killed her but someone had. There had been a deep gash in her back, clearly made from a knife or some other blade. Kagome saw this herself.

And she recognized the name from somewhere, long ago: Shikon no Tama, the Jewel of Four Souls. But from where? And about what?

As she was thinking these things, a memory flashed before Kagome's eyes and she suddenly saw herself, as a little child, looking to be no more than six or seven. Kagome saw herself as if she were just an onlooker to the event. The little girl Kagome was pressing her ear to a door, much as she had been doing only moments before. Kagome recognized the door to be the one to her father's office. Well, now it was Shidosha's office, but Kagome liked to still call it her father's. 

Kagome heard voices coming from the room. She slowly walked forward, drawing closer to her child self. To her surprise, she walked right through the door, into her father's study. Her mother and her father, much younger, were inside, talking. 

"It's very dangerous," her father commented. "Does anyone else know it's here?"

"No," her mother answered after thinking for a moment. "No one else knows but my remaining family."

"Good, the Shikon no Tama, in the wrong hands, will have disastrous effects. It's best if no one ever finds out we have it here. If you have to keep it, we'll have to make sure it's kept a secret," her father said. "It's not only necessary to keep it away from demons. It would be just as bad if it were in the hands of humans who wish to do wrong."

Kagome gasped when she heard Shikon no Tama, but they couldn't hear her of course. So this was how she had heard of the Shikon no Tama. Kagome blinked and found herself back in the hall, her father and her mother and her child self gone. 

The Shikon no Tama? Disastrous effects? Her mother and father had been keeping it, but why? And how did they get it in the first place? Did anyone else know they had had it? 

Well she'd just have to ask her mother about it la…Kagome stopped short in the hallway, remembering that she couldn't ask her mother about it later. She would never get the chance to ask her mother about it. Her head was beginning to ache and she could feel tears coming to her eyes, so she walked down the main hall and out the front doors, wishing to leave the oppressing atmosphere of the castle for a while. 

She could ask her brother about it, but she wasn't stupid enough to do that. He'd never tell her. He'd just say that it was man's business and not for young ladies. Either that or he'd get angry. Kagome wouldn't be surprised if he tossed her into the dungeons for listening in on the conversation. If that was what power did to people, Kagome never wanted any. 

But now what? What would happen with the war now? Kagome couldn't talk to her brother; he'd never listen. And Sesshoumaru seemed to be-judging from Inu-Yasha's descriptions of him-just as obstinate as her brother. Kagome hated to admit it but things were looking badly for both kingdoms now.

She looked up and noticed that she was in the forest, right before three men dropped down from the trees above her, surrounding her.

"Well well well…" one of the men said. "Lookee what we got 'ere boys. Looks like a rich 'un from the way she's a dressed."

"What a pretty 'un. Can I have 'er when we're done?" one of them asked, sneering.

Kagome reached for her sword, only to find it wasn't there. She hadn't grabbed it before wandering out of the castle. "Damn…"

"Ooh, what colorful language fer a lady," one of the men said, making tsk-ing motions with his hands.

Kagome looked more closely at them to find they were all armed with knives. She cursed again. Things weren't looking good for her thus far. She stepped back cautiously, the only way she could go without running into one of the men. Then she turned and dashed through the trees. 

She could hear the men muttering for a moment before chasing after her. She could hear their feet crushing twigs and branches as they pursued her. She couldn't really guess which one knew the forest better: them or her. She had been in here almost every day since she was seven, minus the few months after she had told Inu-Yasha she never wanted to see him again. But they had probably wandered the forests for years, stealing and killing. Kagome figured they were probably pretty evenly matched in terms of knowledge of the forest, and she was probably quicker; but they were armed and she wasn't. 

Kagome screamed as she tripped on a root. She tried to scramble to her feet, only to find that her foot was caught in the root. "Damn it…Get out!" she said, talking to her foot, not the smartest thing to do, as she tried to pull her foot free.

"Looks like we got 'er boys," one of the men said, walking towards her.

"Stay back or I'll…" Kagome said, trying to find the best bluff to use right now. She couldn't exactly tell them she'd fight them because…Well, her foot was caught in a root. And she couldn't brandish her sword to intimidate them, the main reason for that being that she didn't have her sword.

"Ye'll what? Scream us to death? Go ahead, we'll give ye a head start. Yer at a disadvantage after all," one of the men said, stepping back and waiting for her to scream.

Kagome stayed silent where she was. She wouldn't give them the satisfaction of seeing her scream or being fearful so she glared at them.

"Well, ain't ye gonna scream? If ye do that, maybe yer knight in shinin' armor will come and rescue ye," the man said, sneering. (A/N-Oops…Now that I think about it, they didn't have knights in feudal Japan did they? I'm not sure, but oh well. This is an A/U fic anyway, not necessarily feudal Japan…)

"Go to Hell," Kagome shot back.

"Ooh! Well, in that case, we'll just be taking what we need now then," the man commented, motioning for them all to move in.

"Kagome!" someone shouted.

Kagome turned, realizing she recognized the voice. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw him rushing through the trees. "Inu-Yasha!"

"'Tis a demon!" one of the men said, drawing back fearfully. "She's protected by demons!"

"You fool! Who cares?" the man, who seemed to be the leader of the group. "Get her you moron!"

"I don't wanna be messin' with demons!" the man said, running off, leaving only two behind.

"Run now unless you want to taste my claws you bastards," Inu-Yasha said, stepping in front of Kagome as she tried to unhook her foot.

"A little whelp is gonna take us on?" the leader of the bunch asked, jeering. "Why, yer no more older 'n she is."

Inu-Yasha cracked his knuckles. "Old enough to slice you in half, grandpa!"

The other man shifted nervously and turned towards his leader. He gulped. "Uh…sir, I dun think he's a lyin'. I think he could rip us in half. Shouldn't we just leave the wench and move on?" 

"Hah! Don't tell me yer 'fraid of the kid too!" the leader said contemptuously. "Heh, some group 'o thieves I got. A bunch 'o cowards if ye ask me."

"Heh, funny. If you were to ask me, I'd say they were the smart ones," Inu-Yasha commented. "But suit yourself!" he shouted, lunging forward, his hand drawn back to strike. 

Inu-Yasha swiped at his shoulder, not inflicting a deadly wound. The other man ran away, leaving his leader wounded upon the ground. Inu-Yasha stepped towards the man, ready to finish the job, but Kagome ran forward and stopped him, having just been able to get her foot free.

"Don't kill him. This is a bloody time. I don't want to see more," Kagome told him.

Inu-Yasha nodded and pulled the man up. "Now go before I change my mind," he said, shoving him in the direction his companions ran off to.

After making sure the man ran away and wouldn't return, he turned towards Kagome who was sitting at the base of a tree nearby, hugging her knees to her chest.

He shifted uncomfortably, not really sure what to say. He couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. He hadn't killed the man after all. If he'd wanted to kill the man to begin with, he would have done so with the first attack. "So…Why haven't emissaries come to our kingdom asking for a meeting?"

Kagome bit her lip and then burst into tears, making him jump back a little bit, surprised.

"I'm sorry Kagome. I di-" Inu-Yasha began, not really sure what he was apologizing for.

Kagome shook her head slowly. "There'll be no meetings. My mother…she…"

Inu-Yasha leaned forward, waiting for Kagome to finish her sentence but she didn't. Inu-Yasha kneeled down and looked at her face. "She's gone?"

Kagome nodded. (A/N-Wow, my fic has lotsa dying in it…I just noticed that. I'm killing everyone off! There's a point, I promise ^_^) 

Inu-Yasha pulled her to him and she cried into his shoulder. "How?" he asked.

"Someone…killed her…We don't know who. I saw the wound! It was on her back. I just woke up to someone screaming and a servant was outside the door, screaming. I looked in and she was…on the floor…" Kagome sobbed. She pulled back remembering something, her face still tear-streaked. "Have you ever heard of something called the Shikon non Tama?"

Inu-Yasha looked down at her, surprised. "How do you know about it?"

Kagome shrugged.

"I think my brother has it. I heard him talking and h-" Inu-Yasha began, but stopped when Kagome gasped.

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A/N-Wahaha! ***Laughs as she looks at the evil cliff she has created*** Everyone fall off the cliff! Waha! Anyway, oh, my other fic about Kagome getting amnesia is up! Go read it! It gets pretty funny! But first review this story of course ^_^ I forget what else I was going to say…

Review Responses:

jill: I'm glad you still love it!

DragonGlare: Thanks! I'm sorry the suspense is killing you. This story wasn't intended to be a danger to anyone's health ^_^

darksidemoonshine: He is a bad brother, isn't he?

silverstarlight: ***Insert evil laugh here***  

eee: Wow, thanks ^_^ Sorry if it gets jumbled up. I don't really know how to fix the jumbled-ness of it though…

Hanamaru285: I continued! Aren't you proud ^_^

hyperchica11: Hey! My fic is sweeter than your pixie stix! Hah! I just dissed your pixie stixs! What are you going to do about it? Inuyasha I OOC but that's because it's an A/U fic. If it wasn't an A/U fic, I really would not write Inuyasha like that. That would just be too weird.

Ame Tenshi: I got your fic up! Woo hoo! I just used the summary you wrote. I hope that's okay. My goal for the weekend is completed! My next goal is to finish watching all the Evangelion DVD's my friend let me borrow. Seriously, she let me borrow a bunch of DVD's. She dragged them all to school in a bag and then I had to drag them around for the rest of the day ^_^;;;


	14. XIV: Traitor

A/N-You reviewers are complimenting my cool page break thingy more than my fic! Oh well, it is a very spiffy-looking page break thingy. I was messing around on the keyboard once and found these little symbols (I also pushed some keys that did some really weird stuff to the computer so I don't mess around on the keyboard anymore) Anyway, new chappie! And if you count Sunday as a part of last week, I updated four times this week! If you don't count it as a part of next week then it's only three ^_^ I watched six hours of anime last night and I'm SO tired. Never ever doing that again…It feels like I'm gonna fall over… 

Disclaimer-Do I seem like I own the Inuyasha characters? If you answered no, you don't get a cookie but you're right. If you answered yes, you get a cookie because that is just plain flattering. ^_^

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**When Did Things Get Complicated?**

**Chapter XIV**

"How does your brother have it when mine does?" Kagome asked. "Is there more than one?"

Inu-Yasha shrugged. "I think there's only one. At least the man said there was only one."

"Man? What man?" Kagome asked.

"The same man I saw that day your father died," Inu-Yasha said. "What's that got to do wi-"

"What's his name?" Kagome asked urgently, clutching at his sleeve.

"Umm…Nuruka? Nubaku? I only heard his name once and that was a while ago but what's that got to do with any-"

"Naraku?! Is his name Naraku?!" Kagome asked frantically.

"That's it! Naraku! He…" Inu-Yasha began, but trailed off when Kagome stood and began to pace back and forth.

"What does the jewel do?" Kagome asked suddenly.

"I don't know. It's not like my brother would tell me," Inu-Yasha told her.

"Naraku…" Kagome muttered. "That bastard…He's doing something he's not supposed to be doing…I don't know what yet. Traitor…I'll bet he's responsible for my parents' deaths, and your father's too…How dare he?"

"What are you talking about?" Inu-Yasha asked, confused. 

"I heard Lord Naraku and my brother talking earlier today and they talked about how the jewel was missing, and whether or not they should go into battle without it. Then, I had a sort of flashback and I my parents were talking," Kagome explained, telling him exactly what she heard.

After she was done, he was silent for a few moments, taking it all in.

"Well?!" Kagome burst out impatiently. She turned and made to storm out of the forest. "We have to go get him! I'll make sure that bastard pays for it all!" She started to stomp off but Inu-Yasha grabbed her arm.

"Oh no you don't. Listen to me alright? We have to get our thoughts collected first. We can't do anything until we figure this all out," Inu-Yasha said. (A/N-Gasp! Inuyasha's being rational!)

"He's a bastard, he killed my parents, and he's a traitor! What more do you need?!" Kagome shouted angrily. 

Inu-Yasha spoke calmly. He realized that she wasn't angry with him but with Naraku. "Okay: He somehow has some sort of way to move the jewel from one kingdom to the other; he is a traitorous bastard; he may have had a hand in the deaths of your parents and my father; he's a powerful mortal lord; he has some sort of power over both my brother and yours; the jewel is dangerous and powerful, though how, we don't know."

Kagome waited until he was done and then wrenched her arm out of his grasp. "Now that the recount is over, I going to go get him," she said, turning again and stomping off.

Inu-Yasha sighed. She was usually the reasonable one of the two. He jumped up and landed in front of her. "Say you go back home and tell your brother-"

"Which I am going to do right now!" Kagome finished.

"Will he listen?" Inu-Yasha asked, looking at her pointedly.

Kagome sighed. "No…" she said in defeat, but then she straightened again and stared at him defiantly. "So I'll talk to Naraku himself!" she said, stomping around Inu-Yasha.

Inu-Yasha sighed again. He supposed he had to be the reasonable one right now. He jumped up again to land in front of her. "And what'll he do?"

Kagome looked at him for a moment in thought and then slumped in defeat. "He'll do something bad. Kill me maybe…"

"And if he is as powerful in your land as you say, no one will believe you," Inu-Yasha pointed out.

Kagome leaned against a tree for support. "So what do you propose we do then? We can't let him just get away with it!"

"I say we slowly unravel his plan ourselves. We'll just have to outsmart him. We can't beat him physically. He'll rip us apart. We'll just have to slowly plant the seed of doubt into everyone's heads," Inu-Yasha said, turning and walking towards the demon realm.

"Hey! Where're you going? We have to do something!" Kagome shouted, though he was already out of site. Kagome huffed angrily. So he wasn't going to do anything?! He was crazy!

She stomped back towards the castle, fuming. She stormed right past the guards at the front gate, taking them by surprise. She had always been bright and cheerful. By the time she had gotten inside, her temper was slightly doused. Now she only really wanted to rip off one of his arms and step on it instead of both his arms and his legs too.

She walked up the main stairs and turned down a hallway, and saw her brother walking towards her.

"Where is Lord Naraku?" Kagome demanded.

He looked down at her as if just realizing she were there. "He left. He'll join us for dinner tonight though." Then he continued to walk down the hall.

"He left?! What do you mean he left? You just let him LEAVE?!" Kagome cried, running to catch up to him.

"He has every right to leave," Shidosha answered gruffly. "Calm your temper sister. I don't know what you are so angry about, but shouting will not solve it."

"Only slicing Naraku to shreds will solve it," Kagome muttered.

"What was that?" her brother asked.

"It's just N…" Kagome began, but then remembered Inu-Yasha's words. He was right of course. "Nothing…" she sighed and turned to walk in the other direction towards her rooms.

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**A/N-Naraku is evil! *Hiss hiss* Eviiiilll Naraku! Hmm…I have nothing else to say. Wow, that's a first…Or maybe a second…I dunno…I usually have something to say though. Well I don't, so review! Oh oops…forgot the review responses…**

hyperchica11: It is awesome isn't it? I love it but no more messing around on the keyboard for me ^_^;;; I pushed some buttons that I don't think I was supposed to…

Kaiirei: This is an A/U fic, hence the 'A/U' in the summary meaning I get to do what I want with the setting.

Slycat: Yeah, I remembered they had samurai but samurai in shining armor just didn't sound right…

Slycat (Again…): Thank you! I'm sorry, I just had to do it! It's for your own good. ***Grins mischievously and eats all the sugar she took away from Slycat***

angel5191: Thanks!

Lady Silver Wolf: Well, I don't want you to cry so I better keep writing eh? Kouga does suck! ***Runs away real fast as the rabid Kouga fans come after her with pointy objects*** Heheheh! I was just kidding! No really!

darksidemoonshine: I know, I'm sorry I keep leaving cliffs for you guys but it's just so much fun! ***Insert evil laugh here*** Anyway, I'm glad you like the story despite all the cliffs.

DragonGlare: Good, I'm glad you're better. 

Hanamaru285: I continued again! Yay!

meant2Bmatched: ***Cowers in the corner*** I know! I'm sorry! But I love the cliffies! They're so much fun!

silverstarlight: I know, I am very evil. Even ask Lady Mayhem. I stole Larry from her! Wahaha!

Sprout: Wow! Thank you!

tamababymiko-chan: I don't like the dying either. It's very sad. I don't like her brother either. I have half a mind to kill him off…There is a happy ending though! Well, depending on how you look at it I suppose…

True-Love: I have a project to do during math class! Yes!

Ame Tenshi: Yup, it was so worth it. I've still got three more hours to watch today so that I can give them back to her tomorrow. And then she'll give me more anime DVD's to watch ^_^ Wow, it really doesn't take much to make me happy does it? 


	15. XV: The Jewel

Disclaimer-I do not own the Inuyasha characters. Do I have to keep putting these? You all know I don't own them. These are so annoying -_-;;;; And I've been really good about remembering to put them all the time too! So can't I get a break or something? ***Creepy lawyers shake their heads*** Damn…

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**When Did Things Get Complicated?**

**Chapter XV**

"Kagome, you've barely touched your food," Hachimitsu told her.

Kagome jumped and shook her head slightly, dropping her chopsticks. "W-what? Oh…I'm not very hungry." She returned to watching Naraku's every move out of the corner of her eye. 

The family, what was left of it at any rate, was seated around the dining table with Naraku. Kagome insisted upon never taking her eyes off Naraku. Whether he noticed or not, she didn't know. As far as Kagome knew, she was being very inconspicuous about it.

"Princess, did I drop soup on my shirt or something? You seem intent upon watching me eat," Lord Naraku commented good-naturedly.

Kagome sighed inwardly. So much for being furtive about it… That plan was sort of out the window now. Kagome scowled into her soup. She didn't buy his act for one second. He may have had everyone else fooled, but she had him all figured out. The traitor…

She forced a smile upon her face. "No, lord, but I've noticed you seem to be tense this evening," she said kindly. She narrowed her eyes and said teasingly, "You wouldn't be hiding anything, now would you Lord Naraku?" 

He glanced at her briefly, sending cold shivers done her spine. There was something about him that set her nerves on edge. He smiled kindly. "I can hide nothing from one as intelligent as you princess," he said respectively. 

"Lord Naraku, your son is growing up to be a fine young man I hear," Shidosha commented pointedly. 

Kagome rolled her eyes slightly, making sure her brother didn't notice.

"Why yes he is," Naraku answered politely.

Kagome concentrated on the vegetables floating around in her soup. They suddenly seemed very interesting. _So what if his son's a 'fine young man?' No matter how fine he gets, he's not Inu-Yasha and he never will be either._

"The demons, are they good fighters?" Kagome asked conversationally. Maybe he would prove to be suspiciously knowledgeable about demons. Her brother would have to get suspicious then. He wasn't stupid even if he had been being a very good example of stupidity thus far.

"They are very quick and are very hard to kill. Most times, you only manage to wound the demons severely but even that won't do. You have to kill them or they'll eventually recover. They have a great sense of smell and hearing so an ambush is out of the question," Naraku explained.

"What kinds of weapons do they prefer?" Kagome asked.

"Interested in demons, are we?" Naraku asked, looking pointedly at her, something unreadable flashing through his eyes. Did no one notice these things except her?

"Well, I believe it would be useful to be knowledgeable in an area that concerns us all," Kagome said, smiling, though it was cold.

"I don't think the demons concern you too much," Naraku said, his smile frozen on his face.

"I think the demons concern _everyone_. _Some_," Kagome replied, emphasizing the word 'some,' "more than others. I believe it is important to know about them, as they will eventually concern us all more and more. I thought you, sir, were the _perfect_ person to ask. You would know about the demons, wouldn't you?"

If Shidosha or Hachimitsu noticed the hostility, hidden beneath the polite remarks, they said nothing. They just listened interestedly to Kagome and Naraku as if they spoke of the weather.

"All of us know something or another of the demons, princess," he answered, speaking the word 'princess' through clenched teeth.  

"Some of us more than others as I've already said," Kagome replied, smiling. "Have you ever met a demon?"

Naraku was silent for a moment as his eyes gazed piercingly at her and then answered, "No, I can't say that I have."

Kagome angrily stomped through the forest. Naraku was lying. He had met demons and she knew it. He was a traitor, working with the demons. It had something to do with the Shikon no Tama. She found Inu-Yasha standing in the middle of the clearing. When she entered it, he walked over and placed what looked like a blood red glass ball in her hand.

She glanced up at him questioningly.

"That's the Shikon no Tama. My brother had it. The idiot left it in his office. He didn't even guard it. He probably didn't expect anyone to even know about it and it would make some people suspicious if there were guards in his office," Inu-Yasha explained to her.

She grinned. "You took it?" So that was why he wasn't more angry and wasn't willing to do anything earlier. He had already been planning something. 

Inu-Yasha shrugged, smiling. "From what I've heard, it rightfully belongs to your kingdom anyway."

"This is-" Kagome began happily but gasped as the jewel glowed, sending out white light that got brighter and brighter. Then it started to dull again but when the light finally died, the jewel wasn't blood red anymore. It was clear. 

"What was that?" Inu-Yasha asked, taken aback.

"I don't know…One minute it was blood red and the next…" Kagome said, her eyes on the jewel. "So what does it do?"

Inu-Yasha shrugged. "I still don't know. I didn't want to ask my brother or he'd get suspicious."

"Well, I can't ask my brother. He would never tell me," Kagome said, scowling, the jewel still in her outstretched hands. "If my mother were still here, I could ask her but…"

"I have to go now. I should be back before my brother realizes it's gone or he might figure out that I took it," Inu-Yasha said.

Kagome nodded. "Thank you." She kissed him and then he left, hurrying back to the demon realm. Kagome fervently hoped his brother didn't notice that both the jewel and Inu-Yasha were gone before Inu-Yasha got back. Then Kagome looked down at the jewel. How was she supposed to hide this? If it was as powerful and as dangerous as her parents had said, wouldn't someone be able to sense it? Kagome sighed and decided that she'd just have to take her chances with that. She couldn't entrust it to someone else's care, not even Sango's. It wasn't that she didn't trust Sango, it was just that she would be in danger if Kagome gave it to her to hide. She couldn't do that so she slipped it into a fold of her kimono and headed home.

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**A/N-*Sighs* I've still got nothing to say…I'm still pissed about my chapters being deleted off my computer…And I don't even remember all I wrote. *Sighs again* I'm not going to do individual review responses this time because I really don't feel like it. I've caught a cold and I don't feel so good. I'll bet I caught it when I was running around in the hail. It was really fun though…**


	16. XVI: Gone And Never Coming Back

A/N-Uhh…I've nothing to say…Oh except hoorah for spring break! Woo hoo! A week of doing nothing but writing and drawing Inuyasha and Naruto and Sasuke and Amaya and Miaka and woo hoo! Fun fun…

Disclaimer: Don't own none of it…Talk about grammatically correct, ne?

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When Did Things Get Complicated?

Chapter XVI

"You did WHAT?!" Kagome shouted, appalled as they sat at the breakfast table the next morning.

"Sister, do not take that tone with me," her brother, Shidosha said sternly. "And it doesn't concern you." Then he turned to Naraku. "We didn't find it?"

Naraku shook his head. "I'm afraid not your highness."

"You…burned a village?!" Kagome shouted. "An entire village?! Are you insane?!"

"It was necessary to…" Shidosha said, trailing off uncertainly. He didn't realize Kagome already knew about the jewel and was trying to keep it secret apparently. "…find something very dear to me that I'm missing."

"You think the villagers took it?!" Kagome cried.

"No, not all of them obviously. But the one who did won't come forward and return it so we are trying to take it back by-"

"By killing them?! How do you expect them to return it if they're DEAD?! Brother, have you lost your mind?" Kagome asked. She couldn't believe it. He burnt a village to find a jewel? Such a small worthless thing?

"Princess," Naraku said, with a hint of a warning in his voice. "His highness has not lost his mind and if you know you're place, you will not talk to him like that."

"But really, sir, a village?" Hachimitsu asked gently, as was her way. She was always polite and kind and Kagome wished she would explode every once in awhile just to prove that Kagome wasn't the only strange one.

"It was necessary to retrieve something very valuable to your brother, hime," Naraku answered polity, quite unlike the tone he used with Kagome.

"More valuable than the lives of a village? There is nothing more valuable than people's lives!" Kagome insisted.

"Come Lord Naraku," Shidosha said, standing up. "We must find it."

Naraku obediently stood and followed Shidosha. 

"Oh, so after burning a village, you still didn't find what you were looking for? Well, what was the point of that then?" Kagome shouted after them. Kagome huffed when she heard the dining hall door shut behind Naraku and Shidosha. Kagome patted the fold of her kimono where she had hid the jewel as if to make sure it was still there. 

"What's happened to our brother Kagome?" Hachimitsu asked.

"_Brother,_" Kagome spat, "is gone and never coming back." She felt sorry for speaking to her sister like that. After all, she had done nothing, but Kagome was too angry with her brother at the moment. She stood and left, determined to find out just what was so "valuable" about the jewel. If she knew that, she might find a way to undue all of the messes her brother had been making.

Kagome paced about her room, trying to figure out a way to find out about the jewel. She figured that the best way would be to ask someone but who? Not Shidosha and certainly not Inu-Yasha's brother. She couldn't ask her mother or her father. She would ask her grandparents if they were still alive, but they had died and few years ago. Kagome snapped her fingers. Why hadn't she thought of this before? Her mother's sister! Kaede! Kagome had always loved Kaede. She was wise and knew a lot about medicinal herbs. When she was old enough, Kaede had left the life of a noble woman and had decided to become a village priestess. Kagome had often visited her but she hadn't found the time to recently. Of course Kaede would know! She was Kikyo's sister after all and if this jewel was some sort of heirloom, Kaede would know about it.

Kagome grabbed her sword, her bow and her quiver of arrows after changing into riding breeches and a shirt, and hurried down the hall. She stopped as a thought hit her and she grabbed a huge backpack and filled it with bandages, food, blankets, and some old clothes. She lugged her extremely large bag out of the castle and down to the stables where she packed up her saddlebags, and placed them on her horse. She didn't bother telling her brother she was leaving. He wouldn't care anyway.

The guards opened the gates as she approached them. They were used to her leaving the castle by now and asked no questions, but they did glance at her saddlebags and her weapons that were tied to the top of the bags.

Kagome stopped in the village and asked Sango to tell Inu-Yasha that Kagome wouldn't be able to come to the clearing that night. Sango readily agreed but asked her why she wouldn't be able to make it.

"I need to visit my aunt," Kagome answered. "Tell him that I'm going to ask her about it. He'll know what you're talking about. I can't tell you more than that but I promise I'll tell you everything when this is all over."

Sango nodded. "I'll tell him."

On the way to the village where Kaede lived, Kagome spotted the village that had been burned. She rode to it and saw many people trying to rebuild their houses. Others were badly injured and starving. Dismounting, she opened her saddlebags. She gave the food to the hungry villagers, making sure that the children were fed first. Then she tended to the wounded villagers. Some were badly burned so she went into the forest, searching for herbs to cool and heal the burns. After hours of tending to the wounded and helping them rebuild some of their houses, she felt she had done all she could and gave them the blankets and the clothes.

As she was leaving, a small girl child came and tugged on Kagome's breeches. "Thank you Kagome-hime," she said, handing Kagome a wildflower she had picked from the forest. 

"Yes, thank you princess. You have given us new hope," the village head said, leaning upon a stick for support. He had been one of the ones who had been badly burned.

"I'm sorry for my brother's actions. I had no idea he was going to do this," Kagome told them apologetically, though she didn't know why she should stick up for her idiot of a brother. 

"We know you are doing all you possibly can and we thank you," the village head answered.

Then she left, heading for her aunt's village. Kagome looked up at the sky. She guessed it to be late afternoon, a few hours before dinnertime. If she hurried, she decided, she could reach Kaede's village at nightfall.

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A/N-Will Kagome find out the mystery behind the jewel? Will Kaede know its secrets? Find out next time in…*Dun dun dun!* When Did Things Get Complicated! I would make such a good TV announcer person guy thing. ^_^


	17. XVII: Secrets of the Jewel

A/N-Here is the next chapter guys. Sorry I didn't do review responses last time. I just didn't feel like it but I'm doing them this time at the bottom.

Disclaimer-I do not own the Inuyasha characters.

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When Did Things Get Complicated?

Chapter XVII

Kagome looked up at the sky. It was about an hour until sunset, she guessed. Kagome shifted in the saddle. She was sore from riding all day. She'd regret that the next day, she knew. She jumped as her horse came to a stop. She looked around, trying to see what had caused her horse to halt. Kagome stared in wide-eyed shock as she took in the scene before her. It was obviously a battlefield. There were bodies of dead men lying everywhere. Some had claw marks all along the lengths of their bodies, others had spears and arrows sticking out of their chests and backs. Kagome closed her eyes and breathed slowly, trying to keep from retching. She slowly opened her eyes and spotted a man with an arrow in his forehead. Her lunch suddenly wasn't sitting too well in her stomach. The field reeked of blood and rotting corpses. She couldn't believe no one had even come to bury the dead! Kagome spotted some white haired men and knew that some of the demons had died as well. Kagome regretted that she didn't have time to bury at least some of them so she gathered as many flowers as she could find and placed a small bouquet on the bodies, even the bodies of the demon warriors. They deserved to rest in peace just as much as humans did since they were just doing as they were told, just as the human soldiers were doing as they were told. Kagome took one last look at the field and vowed that she would try to stop the war. She never wanted to have to see so many corpses in one place again. Whatever they gained through war wasn't worth what was lost, Kagome decided. 

Kagome reached Kaede's village as the sun was setting and a reddish-orange tinge lit up the horizon. Most of the villagers were inside, probably eating dinner, though some children were still outside playing and a few people were still working in the fields. Kagome rode towards her aunt's hut. Reaching it, she dismounted and walked inside. 

"Aunt Kaede?" Kagome called.

"Kagome?" her aunt asked, coming out from one of the back rooms to see Kagome in the doorway. "Child, what are you doing here? Surely not visiting so late at night?"

"No, I have something to ask you Aunt Kaede," Kagome admitted.

Kaede motioned for Kagome to come into the kitchen. "Well, eat something first. You look exhausted. What have you been up to all day?"

"I stopped at a village that was…burned to give them some blankets and food. I also helped them begin to rebuild some huts," Kagome explained. She didn't feel like explaining that her brother had been the one to burn it down.

"How's that nephew of mine?" Kaede asked, setting a bowl of stew in front of Kagome.

_Insane,_ Kagome thought to herself, but aloud, she answered, "He's doing very well."

"That's good to hear. Wouldn't want to hear that he's been going around burning villages," Kaede said, sitting across the table from Kagome.

Kagome glanced up at her.

"Yes I know child," Kaede told her.

"Hmph," Kagome muttered, glaring into her stew. "He's an idiot. I don't know what's wrong with him. He never used to be like that."

"Well, you didn't come here to talk about your brother did you?"

"No, I didn't," Kagome agreed. "I wanted to ask you about the Shikon no Tama. I figured that you would know about it."

"Oh, that's right. Did it get passed down to you after your mother died?" Kaede asked.

Kagome frowned. "Well, no…"

"It didn't?" Kaede asked, surprised. "Well, where is it then?" she asked, almost panicky.

"Oh, I have it, but not because it was passed down to me," Kagome assured her. "Was it supposed to be given to me when mother died?"

"Yes. It's always passed down in the family to the eldest female child. So, where was it after your mother died?" Kaede asked.

"I'm not sure about that part. I think Shidosha had it after she died, but the demons may have had it at one point as well," Kagome said. She really wasn't sure where it had gone after her mother died because Kagome was pretty sure that the demons had had the jewel for a time and they had had it before Inu-Yasha took it.

"Shidosha?" Kaede gasped. "Well…That would explain some of it then…Tell me everything child."

So Kagome told her aunt everything she knew and everything she suspected. She told her about Naraku and her mother dying and her father dying, and she told her about how Inu-Yasha was the reason she had the jewel now.

"Child, you mustn't let that jewel fall into anyone else's hands again. It is very dangerous for someone to have it," Kaede told her. 

"Then why isn't it dangerous for me to have it?" Kagome asked.

"Have you ever heard of Midoriko?" Kaede asked. When Kagome shook her head, she continued, "She was a priestess who fought demons to protect people when evil demons roamed the world. In her last battle, a great demon tried to swallow her. Before he could do that, she took this jewel from herself, and her soul and the powerful demon's soul were trapped inside. Inside this jewel, a battle between Good and Evil still wages. Our family is descended from the priestess and only the eldest female child can purify the jewel. Kikyo could purify the jewel, which is why it was in her possession. Now, you must purify it."

"But…How can I keep it from them? If they find out I have it, they'll take it. I wouldn't put it past Shidosha to even kill me for it. Why do they want it?" Kagome asked.

"That jewel can give you anything you desire. It is how you use those desires that determines whether or not it is evil in the bearer's hands. If their desires do no harm to anyone, or is for the good of people, the jewel will not be tipped towards evil. If their desires are greedy or full of hate, the jewel will grow dangerous and evil. From what you've explained, Shidosha must have used the jewel to seek revenge upon the demons for killing his father, and so the jewel became tainted with hate and became evil. After that, the evil must have slowly consumed him as he used it to wage war against the demons. That explains his change. The jewel's evil was slowly taking over his soul. But now you have it. I only hope that it's not too late for the evil to ebb from his soul. If his soul is too consumed by hate and evil, he won't ever return to the way he was. If the evil is not purged from his body, the evil will slowly eat at him until he is no more. Now, this Inu-Yasha fellow…"

Kagome blushed and Kaede caught it but just continued as if she hadn't. "You say he said that his brother had it and he took it from his brother and gave it to you?"

Kagome nodded.

"So it must be true. Naraku must be passing the jewel between the two kingdoms without either king's knowledge. This Naraku character is dangerous and tricky. You must watch out for him. Now that you have the jewel, he shouldn't be able to cause as much trouble anymore. You must still watch this lord carefully. I fear he still holds power over your brother," Kaede warned her.

"What happens? When someone makes a wish I mean?" Kagome asked.

"The jewel will be absorbed into the person's body. There's probably no safer place for the jewel if the wish will do no harm to anyone. Now, you must be exhausted. Get some rest now and you can ride home in the morning," Kaede said briskly, setting up a sleeping mat for Kagome. (A/N-Alright, the jewel thing. I'm really not sure what happens to the jewel after someone wishes on it or whatever but I figured that was probably close to what happened. I'm not sure though, so don't come at me with pointy objects if that's not true. ^_^)  

"Thank you Aunt Kaede," Kagome said.

"You're welcome child," Kaede said, going into her room.

Kagome pulled the jewel out of her pocket and stayed awake late that night, thinking while holding the jewel in front of her. Finally, she wrapped her fingers tightly around it, rolled over and fell asleep.

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A/N-That chapter was pretty boring since it was a bunch of stuff about the jewel that everyone knows about already. Naraku=Evil! ***Hiss Hiss!*** Don't ask what that was because I have no idea…

Review responses that I was too lazy to do last time:

youkai chick supreme-Yes! I got a death threat! Awesome! My life is now complete and I can die happy! Woo hoo! I'm so excited I got a death threat! I have no idea why…

AoiTsuki-Wow, I'm so sorry. I will find a way to add in more fluff! I will! This happens all the time. I often get so caught up in making the plot complicated and twisted and interesting that I totally forget all the romance ^_^;; I will try to fit in more though.

Slycat-Yes, he is very bad. Very very bad.

Minako-chan-Don't worry, you'll see what I'm going to do with this story soon enough ^_^

reynamannga-Yes, the plot is getting as thick as clam chowder and molasses. *Thinks about it for a moment* Eww…Oh, this story's gonna be uhhh…*Counts on fingers* I think it will be a little bit less than thirty chapters…I think. But I dunno. It is nearing the end though! *Sniff* It'll be so sad! Oh well, I can work on my other ones then. And I'm getting a little off-topic now.

youkai chick supreme (again)-Oh, 'hime' means 'princess.' Two months ago, I knew not a word of Japanese. Since then I've learned a bunch but not even near enough. Wow, can I borrow Inuyasha? Or even Shippo? Kikyo does suck! She sucks!!! *Looks around to see rabid Kikyo running at her with pointy objects* Oops, did I say that aloud? ^_^;;;

DragonGlare-Thanks ^_^

eee-Really? Wow, what a compliment. I don't think I can handle one so big. It might make my head too big see.

Tamababymiko-chan-Nope, I just didn't feel like answering reviews last chapter. I'm doing them again though, see? Yes, I don't like Kagome's brother either. I should really kill him off and I've been seriously considering that but I think I've changed my mind. Not too sure though…I might feel evil sometime while I'm writing and then just BAM! Shidosha is dead on the ground! Wahaha! Uhh…Nevermind…


	18. XVIII: Happy Memories

A/N-So sorry this wasn't up sooner. See, I go through certain phases of creativity and I kind of switch off between drawing and writing and lately, I've been in the drawing phase so I've just been spending my time drawing fanart and other pictures. That's exactly what happened before when I was writing all those Tamora Pierce and Harry Potter fanfics. I just fell out of writing for awhile and I just drew and painted but then I got back into writing but I started writing for Inuyasha instead so yeah. No worries though people, I'm staying here. I just gotta motivate myself to write and update and stuff. I can just draw during math class. That works. I would post my Inuyasha fanart somewhere but it's kind of…errr… "suggestive." Well, I suppose I could post it. It's really not that suggestive. It really isn't. It's just lots of Kagome and Inuyasha fluff scenes ^_^ 

Disclaimer-I do not own the Inuyasha characters. I do own a poster of Samurai Deeper Kyo that's hanging on my wall right now and I'm looking at it but that's really got nothing to do with anything.

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**When Did Things Get Complicated?**

**Chapter XVIII**

Inuyasha paced around the clearing nervously. Kagome hadn't come. He had been waiting for an hour and a half now and she still hadn't shown up. He tried to find her scent in the forest just in case she had gotten lost (which wasn't likely since they both knew this area of the forest like the back of their hands) but no such luck. 

What if something had happened to her? Something had to have happened to her; she wouldn't just leave him waiting in the clearing like this. Or maybe she would? Maybe he was just kidding himself and she was just like all the others. All the other people who saw him as some sort of monster.

'Idiot! You know she isn't like that!' Inuyasha told himself. He did know. But then why wasn't she here?

Inuyasha glared towards the human realm. It had to be Naraku. He had to have done something to her! He found out that she had the jewel and-Inuyasha's thoughts stopped short as he realized that if this were what had happened, it was his fault since he had given her the jewel.

"Damn it!" Inuyasha cursed. He had done it! He had put Kagome in danger and now something horrible was happening to her! And here he was doing nothing! He couldn't live without Kagome anymore, since he now knew what it was like to not be lonely. He just couldn't live without her and he had to go do something!

Nodding decisively, he ran through the forest towards the human realm, knowing that he'd be able to find the castle easily if he just followed the way Kagome went all the time. 

"That bastard is going to pay if even a hair on her head is hurt!" Inuyasha muttered to himself, growling. Inuyasha would make sure Naraku paid if anything happened to Kagome.

Just as he was at the edge of the forest, a solid body came colliding into him, knocking him back under the cover of the trees. 

Growling, Inuyasha leapt to his feet and cracked his knuckles. His fighting stance was gone immediately when he saw that the person who had run into him was Sango, Kagome's friend.

"Inuyasha! What are you doing trying to leave the forest like that?" Sango hissed, looking over her shoulder to make sure no one had seen him.

"That bastard is doing something to Kagome! She didn't come to the clearing!" Inuyasha retorted angrily. "He's going to pay!"

"No, I forgot to tell you that Kagome stopped by this morning to tell me to tell you that she wasn't going to be able to make it today. She went somewhere and she wouldn't tell me why. She said it was too dangerous for me to know."

Inuyasha felt the tension in his shoulders ease as he breathed a sigh of relief. She must have gone somewhere to find out about the jewel. At least he knew that she wasn't in the clutches of Naraku.

"Sorry, I forgot," Sango told him sheepishly.

"That's alright. So long as Naraku doesn't have her."

"Now, hurry and leave before someone sees you!" Sango whispered, glancing over her shoulder again.

"Thanks Sango," Inuyasha said, before heading back towards demon realm, his fears about Kagome's safety appeased. 

*

"Kagome! You came!" a small boy with long, white silver-hair, golden eyes, and pointy dog ears on his head cried happily, running towards her after hopping out of the tree he had been impatiently waiting in. Kagome looked around to find herself watching her younger self and a younger Inu-Yasha meet in the clearing.

_"Of course I came silly!" her younger self said, running into the clearing and tapping his shoulder. "You're it!"_

_"Hey! That's not fair! I wasn't ready!" Inu-Yasha protested._

_"Inu-Yasha! You're much faster than me! You can't handle catching me?" Kagome teased._

_"I never said that!" Inu-Yasha pouted, and then ran towards her._

_"Eep!" Kagome squeaked as she leapt to the side. Then she looked up at the sky. "Look! The stars! They're so pretty!" Inu-Yasha looked up.****_

"Hey, Kagome?" Inu-Yasha asked as they both lay back in the soft grass, looking up at the stars. "Do you think we'll remember today when we're older?"

_"I'll remember it forever," Kagome declared. "My mama says that no one can forget a happy memory and I think this is one of the happy ones."_

_"Even if we never see each other again? We'll remember it, right?" Inu-Yasha asked._

_"Of course! We always have to have happy memories to remember when times get bad. That's what father told me. So if it's a bad time, we can remember the happy times! And you're so pessimistic! Who says we'll never see each other again?"_

_"What's pessimistic?" Inuyasha asked._

_"I don't know. I heard my mom use it once and I figured it fit here," Kagome admitted, shrugging._

_"We'll never have a bad time though, right?" Inu-Yasha asked after long moments of silence._

_"Nah, I don't think so. We'll always be happy because we always have each other," Kagome assured him._

_"But what if we don't have each other? Then what? What if our parents separate us?"_

_"I don't know," Kagome admitted._

_"I know! I'll come over and rescue you so we can run away and have lots of adventures. We could become pirates! Traveling the wide open seas and searching for buried treasure!" Inu-Yasha said excitedly._

_"Ooh! Or gallant knights roaming the country performing good deeds!" Kagome said, happily clapping her hands.****_

"Girls can't be knights!" Inuyasha insisted.

"Yes they can so!" Kagome pouted.

"Well, I guess if you really wanted to, you could," Inuyasha said finally.

"I can!" Kagome insisted.

"But no matter what, we'll still have the memories of our times together and I think that that's enough even if something really bad happens," Inu-Yasha said.

Kagome nodded her agreement, though she doubted anything bad could ever happen to their fairy-tale life.

Inu-Yasha smiled.****

Kagome watched Inu-Yasha slip his hand into younger Kagome's. Then there was a flash of light and a shadow fell over the clearing. Inu-Yasha disappeared and younger Kagome cried out in anguish.

"Inu-Yasha!!" 

And then her younger self disappeared as well and she was alone in the dark clearing. Then a man in a white baboon pelt came out from under the cover of the trees. He pulled off the head of the pelt and she saw Naraku. 

"What did you do to Inu-Yasha?" Kagome demanded.

"Me?" Naraku asked innocently. "Why nothing, of course."

Kagome began to rush forward, thinking to hit him or something when she saw the bodies of her mother and father lying at his feet. Her mother stood up, blood dripping from the wound in her back.

"Mama?" Kagome breathed as she slowed down to a stop.

"Why did you kill me?" her mother asked, her fingers, covered in her own blood, held out before her.

Kagome stepped back. "But I didn't!"

"Why, Kagome, why?" her mother cried.

Kagome fell to her knees shaking her head while she looked at the ground beneath her. "I didn't…I didn't…" she whispered.

"Why, Kagome, why?" her father asked, rising to his feet and joining the chant.

"I didn't…"

"But I did," Kagome heard someone announce. She looked up to see Naraku gone, replaced by her brother.

"I killed them and I'll kill again. I'll kill until the jewel is returned to me and you are next little sister," Shidosha said.

"No…" Kagome whispered. "You didn't!"

"I did," Shidosha said calmly.

Then Inu-Yasha came into the clearing and walked towards her, holding out his hand. His hand looked so warm and comforting. She placed her hand in his.

*

Kagome woke up gasping for breath, her heart pounding furiously against her rib cage and she realized that tears were streaming down her face. Her legs were tangled in the blankets from her tossing and turning. She clenched her fists as she tried to calm herself. 

"It was a dream…" Kagome murmured to herself. The beginning of the dream was a memory. She remembered looking at the stars once with Inu-Yasha when she was nine years old. That had been the exact conversation they had had then. 

When her heartbeat had calmed down and her breathing normalized, she laid back down on the sleeping mat but sleep did not come easily.

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A/N-I'm so fricken lucky. From this document I cut the next few chapters from it so I could post this chapter, but I forgot to paste what I cut before I saved the document and then I copied something else and lost the next few chapters. I was panicking because it was like twelve pages of stuff and I thought Word had a clipboard thing I could use but no, it doesn't have one. So then I was totally panicking thinking I could open this file again but then I remembered that I had already saved the new cut up document so finally I just undid everything and I saved the chapters. Hoorah! I'm so glad since I hate typing. But I'm so sad! This fic has only got about three more chapters left L It makes me sad since I don't want the story to end! ***Sniff Sniff*** Anyway…yeah, review…or else! Kukukukukuku ßEvil Naraku laugh ^_^

**Review Responses:**

Lylli Riddle-Isn't that what I said? I thought that was what I said. Anyway, I didn't say anything about Inuyasha using the jewel anyway ^_^

youkai chick supreme-Yes! Another death threat! Can my day get any better? First no math class, then sitting around a reading and drawing Inuyasha during the last two classes of the day (instead of going to math) and then a death threat! Woo hoo! No one ever takes my death threats seriously. But penguins armed to the teeth with rotten bananas are terrifying! They are! People need to take them more seriously!

Aoi Tsuki-I will fit in fluff! I'm just working so hard on the plot right now that I kinda keep forgetting bout the fluff. I will fit it in though! Probably next chapter or the one after that. I think…I will do something about Kagome's brother, no worries, but I won't tell you what I'm gonna do with him.

DragonGlare-Ooh, I'm glad it's getting exciting for you! I thought the whole Keade and Kagome talk was pretty boring but okay. If you thought it was exciting, that's awesome ^_^

raynamangga-Me too. I've never actually tasted it and that's strange considering I've tried all sorts of weird food combinations. (Pineapple juice and pickles are good. They taste pretty good when they're separate too ^_^) I still hate him too. I thought about killing him off for awhile and to be honest, I still am.

Dark Shadows aka Shade-That would be a way. I'm not going to tell you what happens so hah! Kukukuku! ßEvil laugh again 

Minako-chan-Originally, this chapter didn't have any Inuyasha until Kagome got back from Kaede's home but then I read your review and I added some stuff with him at the beginning just for you ^_^

Hanamaru285-Wee! I continued! (Finally)

Tamababymiko-chan-Out of curiosity, are you a Fushigi Yuugi fan or is the 'Tamababy' part of your name just from the Shikon no Tama? Because I know Nuriko calls Tamahome 'Tamababy' in Fushigi Yuugi (Even though Nuriko is a ***! I blotted that out for all you who haven't seen or read Fushigi Yuugi yet even though it's not really a spoiler since it happens in like the second or third manga, don't remember which. I think it's second though.) Anywho, hmm…maybe Kaede and Kagome's talk wasn't as boring as I thought it was. So, who else wants to help me and Tamababymiko-chan kill Shidosha? ***Holds up short sword*** Any takers? 


	19. XIX: Caught Together in the Between Fore...

A/N-Alright! We're winding down to the last few chapters of the story! Oh! Actually, I just checked and there's only one chapter after this, the longest one yet. Can you believe that? One more! ***Sobs*** It's going to be over! But I've grown so attached to this story! But there's no more left. It's all so sad. Someone suggested a sequel but what am I supposed to write for the sequel?! I have no idea. Oh! ***Lightbulb appears over head*** Our favorite little wolf demon didn't make an appearance…Hmm, I don't know what I could do with that though…Ooh! Well, or not…Oh well, I'll just have to think about it for awhile. Oh, and sorry this chapter took so long to get up. We got to pick a book for our book report this time in English and me, being stupid ol' me, picked a book and then didn't read it until twelve days before we get started writing the report so now I have to read 100 pages a day in order to finish my book in twelve days. Yes, my book is 1, 212 pages long. I'm so stupid, but it's a really, really good book and I really want to try to do it for my last report of the year. Yeah, so I'm gonna try. So don't expect another chapter for at least another week. The next chapter (the very last one in this fic) chould be up maybe next weekend if I'm not reading until my head falls off…

Disclaimer-

Creepy Lawyer: Once more: DO YOU OWN THESE CHARACTERS?

YoukaiTaiji-ya: Hmm…what characters?

Creepy Lawyer: The characters in this story!

YoukaiTaiji-ya: What story?

Creepy Lawyer: This story right here!

YoukaiTaiji-ya: Where? ***Points to random spot on the ceiling*** There?

Creepy Lawyer: No! Here! We're in it right now!

YoukaiTaiji-ya: In what right when?

Creepy Lawyer: ***Sighs in exasperation*** I give up!

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When Did Things Get Complicated?

Chapter XIX

Kagome set out early in the morning before sunrise and made it home just in time for breakfast. Sango told her that Inu-Yasha wanted to meet her after breakfast as she rode towards the castle. Things would get better now. Shidosha would slowly return to normal now that he didn't have the jewel anymore and Naraku would lose.

Kagome cheerfully entered the dining hall and sat down at her usual seat.

"Good morning everyone," she said brightly, resisting the urge to laugh triumphantly and shove it all in Naraku's face.

"Someone's cheerful this morning," Shidosha commented.

"I'm sorry for the way I spoke yesterday dear brother," Kagome apologized, surprising everyone at the table.

"Kagome, are you okay?" Hachimitsu asked tentatively.

"Of course dear little sister," Kagome assured her, smiling.

Shidosha set down his eating utensils with a clink. "Okay Kagome, who's the man?"

It was Kagome's turn to be surprised and she blinked. "What?"

"Who is he? You can tell me. We could probably even arrange something if he's of noble birth of course," Shidosha said very business-like.

Kagome just blinked at him stupidly. "What? No, there's no one. I'm just…so glad that…uhh…" Well, there was three things she could do in this situation, she decided. She could A) say, "I'm just glad that you don't have the Shikon no Tama anymore and I do," B) say, "It's Inu-Yasha. You know, the demon prince," or C) just lie. Kagome, being the intelligent girl she was, chose C. 

"I've just realized that you are king and you should be allowed to do what you deem best for the kingdom," Kagome answered sweetly.

Shidosha still glanced at her suspiciously, but didn't press any furthur.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that you've learned your place," Naraku said.

Kagome glanced at him, resisting the urge to laugh in his face and just smiled kindly. "Oh I have milord." How could he be so narrow-minded? Even Shidosha was still suspicious. She couldn't believe Naraku had even bought that crap. For someone who was supposed to be tricky and cunning, he was pretty stupid.

After breakfast she hurried out to the Between Forest. She stepped slowly through the trees, deep in thought. 

"Shikon no Tama…" Kagome murmured. "So that's why everyone wants it. It can give you anything, but it can also be bad if what they desire is selfish or greedy or hateful. All the more reason for no one to have it," Kagome decided firmly. But then…she had it now… "But I wouldn't wish for anything bad. I don't want anything bad to happen. And I'm supposed to purify it. But how am I supposed to protect it if they find out I have it? I can't fight two different armies to keep the jewel from them…Midoriko could but she had the powers of a great miko." Kagome sighed but then her eyes hardened determinedly. "Naraku will not get this jewel again. I'll make sure of it no matter what." He wouldn't corrupt the jewel again and he wouldn't trick people anymore.

Soon she entered the clearing to find Inu-Yasha already there. 

"Well?" he asked as she walked towards him. "Did you find out anything?"

"We can't let Naraku get this jewel ever again," Kagome told him and then repeated to him everything her aunt had said about the jewel.

"So how are you going to keep it from him?" Inu-Yasha asked.

Kagome sighed. "I have no idea. I don't think I could fight him physically if he found out I had it so I'm just counting on him not finding out."

"I shouldn't have given it to you. You could be killed," Inu-Yasha said, pulling her into an embrace.

"Kaede said that only I can purify it so I have to have it and keep it from Naraku," Kagome said, burying her head into his shoulder.

"If you get killed I'll never forgive you," Inu-Yasha said, smiling. 

Kagome laughed into his shoulder.

"But seriously," Inu-Yasha said, his face grave, as he pulled her back to look at him, "be careful. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Kagome snorted. "So I can slice him in half?"

Inu-Yasha frowned. "No, you can't do that."

"But that's what you would do," Kagome pointed out.

Inu-Yasha sighed, smiling. "Fine, don't do anything I'd do."

"Easy enough…I think…So slicing him in half is out of the question?" Kagome asked, pouting a little.

Inu-Yasha shrugged and grinned. "If you snuck up on him maybe…but not in a duel. He'd cheat…"

Kagome huffed and crossed her arms. Inu-Yasha grinned and then leaned down and kissed her, his lips a gentle caress to hers. Kagome slipped her arms up around his neck, pulling him closer to her. When their lips parted, Kagome sighed contentedly and rested her head against his shoulder. She felt like life was good again. Inu-Yasha was here with her, she now had the Shikon no Tama so Naraku could no longer manipulate people through it, her brother would return to normal, she was sure, and once Shidosha was back to normal, Kagome was positive that he would see the stupidity in the war and work for peace. Kagome sighed again. Yes, the gods were making up for all the bad things they had made happen in her life. They were finally making up for it. 

As Inu-Yasha was nuzzling her neck gently and breathing in her soft scent of lilacs, he glanced up sharply, peering into the woods surrounding them. He thought he caught a white flash but he blinked and it was gone.

"Do you feel like-" Inu-Yasha began.

"Someone's watching?" Kagome asked, frowning. "Yes, I thought it was just my imagination."

Inu-Yasha sniffed the air. "There's no one there now…"

Naraku, in his white baboon pelt, chuckled to himself as he slunk out of the forest. He knew that girl was hiding something. She had been far too compliant that morning at breakfast. He hadn't let on that he was suspicious that morning, but he had been full of misgivings at her sudden light and submissive attitude.

_'Now, this could prove to be very amusing…'_ Naraku thought to himself, chuckling. 

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**A/N-Now, did you all catch the fluff? Did you see it? I put some in there! Did ya see it? Did ya? There was fluff! Woo hoo! Inu/Kag-ness rocks! Pretty pretty fluff. Ooh, and Naraku knows! *Whispers* He knows! Next chapter: Caught Together in the Forest! Yup, that's right, Kagome and Inu-Yasha scandalous relationship (not really scandalous but I'm trying to make it sound interesting here) becomes known to all! Miroku makes a brief appearance in the next chapter as well (I added him in there after a certain reviewer asked if he would show up and I decided to add him in. He wasn't originally in the next chapter).**

**Review Responses:**

Slycat-Yes, it was a very bad nightmare. Feel the foreshadowing! Bwuahah!

youkai chick supreme-Woo hoo! Another death threat! Yes!

Lylli Riddle-Volume 5? Really? Wow…I live in Washington.

mkitty-chan-Hmm, I thought about that suggestion and, while it is a very good suggestion and I would love to make the story longer, it didn't really seem to fit with the fic and I figured it would be too off-topic. So yeah, great suggestion though!

Tamababymiko-chan-Nuriko is SO cool! At first, I didn't like Nuriko because she was trying to steal Tamahome from Miaka but as soon as I figured out that………I totally loved Nuriko! Nuriko is awesome! Shidosha is bad. Yes he is.

AoiTsuki-Good! We almost have enough people to take him on now! Woo!

jill- ^_^

Merayna-The climax is in the last chapter! The climax is always towards the end! I put fluff in this chapter! Did you see it?! ^_^ I'm very proud.

DragonGlare-Nope, not three more chapters. Only one more chapter. The next chapter is pretty long. The longest yet and I debated cutting it into two chapters but I decided it would be better to have the climax and the resolution stuff in the same chapter. So, only one more chapter. I'm thinking about a sequel now.

reynamangga-That would be pretty. I just started watching Rurouni Kenshin on CN but it's really bad. My sister really likes it though so I watch it sometimes.

Hanamaru285- ^_^

Ame Tenshi-Yes, you will find out sooner or later ^_~ Next chapter you'll find out! Bwuahaha! But you know, in the last chapter, I actually like Shidosha. I think I saved him ^_^ I think you guys will like him too after the last chapter. You'll still be mad about the whole evil brother thing but you'll like him at least a little bit more I think.

Minako-chan-Nope, he's not just a greedy human being. He's got powers! But you'll figure all that out in the last chapter of this story, which is the very next chapter. ^_^ 


	20. XX: The End, Or Is It?

A/N-Woo! Last chappie! Sorry it took so long to post. I'm working on three research projects at once right now so I'm really busy. I decided to take a brea kfrom my projects though since I've been working from ten this morning till now, 2:33 PM, only stopping every once in awhile for all the necessities ^.~ So I'm really busy but I decided to not make you all wait another week for this chappie. This is the longest chapter of this story yet. It's 12 pages long. I was thinking about splitting it in half but this has the climax and the resolution and I just didn't like the idea of splitting the two up.

Disclaimer: …

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**When Did Things Get Complicated?**

**Chapter XX**

"In love?" Shidosha asked incredulously. "Kagome? With who?" he demanded.

"The demon boy," Naraku told him calmly, though he was grinning triumphantly on the inside. Oh yes, she was in trouble now.

"The demon prince? The king's younger brother?" Shidosha asked, though he already knew the answer.

"Yes, I say we accuse that loose woman of treason," Naraku said, a little more vehemently than he would've liked.

"Now, see here Lord Naraku. That is still my little sister and I will not hear her called loose," Shidosha said coldly.

Naraku cursed under his breath. The effect of the jewel was already beginning to wear off. He didn't expect it to wear off so soon. He needed that jewel back and soon. All his plans depended on having that jewel in his hands. "You are very right your highness. A thousand apologies." 

Shidosha stared at the fire in the hearth, deep in thought.

"I have a suggestion, if you will hear it your majesty," Naraku said, a slight smile on his face.

  
*

Breakfast the next morning was unusually quiet. Kagome noticed that Shidosha kept stealing glances at her when he thought she wasn't looking and she vaguely wondered what was going through his head. She was sure he was thinking something and she was fairly certain that it concerned her.

"I came across a battlefield while I was riding yesterday," Kagome said casually. "Why weren't the dead buried?"

"I sent people out just this morning to bury the human soldiers," Shidosha answered calmly, not looking up at her.

"You're just going to let the demon soldiers rot out there? They were just taking out orders, just as the human soldiers were. It isn't fair that you should deprive them of a proper burial because they were doing just what the human soldiers were," Kagome said, horrified.

"Nothing is stopping them from retrieving the bodies. I won't try to stop them if they wish to," Shidosha answered, still calmly.

Kagome glanced at him suspiciously. Why was he being so calm? Kagome knew he must have been plotting something. "Where's Lord Naraku?" Kagome asked, suddenly glancing around the table.

"He's overlooking the moving of the troops," Shidosha replied.

"You're moving them? Why?"

"The demons moved their troops. We're just following them so that we will be able to intercept them should they move over the border."

Kagome still felt like there was something he wasn't telling her, but she didn't press any further. Kagome was glad to finally leave the stiflingly tense atmosphere of the dining hall and get outside.  As she headed towards the Between Forest, Sango came running towards her from the village.

"Kagome! Kagome!" Sango cried excitedly, throwing her arms around Kagome's neck.

Kagome, taken aback, stuttered, "S-S-Sango? Is everything alright?"

Sango pulled back and Kagome saw that she was grinning and her eyes were shining, almost as if filled with tears. "Kagome! I'm getting married!"

Kagome smiled and congratulated her friend extravagantly and finally regained enough senses to ask who the man was.

"His name is Miroku. You remember him, don't you?" Sango asked.

Kagome furrowed her brow in thought, trying to remember. She knew she recognized that name from somewhere. Then she burst into laughter. She remembered Miroku. When she used to come to the village, she used to see him surrounded by girls, even when he was just a tiny child. He had always been popular with the village girls. "Miroku? Perverted Miroku?"

Sango frowned and hit her shoulder gently. "He's not like that anymore. He's really very sweet…" Sango said, sighing, as a far-off, dreamy look entered her eyes.

"Well I'm very happy for you Sango," Kagome told her. "And I'm glad Miroku isn't like that anymore."

Sango giggled, remembering Miroku when he was a child. "Me too. You're invited to the wedding of course. Miroku will be glad to see you. He hasn't seen you in so long. You will come won't you?"

"I wouldn't miss it for anything," Kagome assured her extremely happy friend.

"Then I'll come to yours too," Sango said, nudging Kagome suggestively.

"Mine?" Kagome asked, slightly confused. Then, "Sango! Who says there'll be one?"

"Alright, whatever you say…" Sango said disbelievingly. (A/N-Alright, Sango getting married doesn't really have anything to do with the main plot of the story, but I just HAD to add some Sango/Miroku goodness in here ^_^ I'm trying to think of a time when Miroku can actually make an appearance but I don't think I'll be able to manage it. Oh wait…*Grins as an idea pops into her head*) 

"Sango!"

Kagome and Sango both turned to see a handsome young man hurrying towards them. Sango grinned and blushed furiously as she watched him approach them.

Kagome's mouth fell open. "Miroku?! Is that you?"

The young man grinned. "Nice to see you too, 'Ole One-Shot." (A/N-Grr…Stupid To Kill a Mockingbird…)

Kagome smiled. Miroku had given her that nickname when they were small kids and used to shoot at targets with bows and arrows. Kagome had always been very skilled with a bow and arrow and had won their little tournaments all the time.

Miroku slipped his arm around Sango's waist, pulling her close to him.

"Miroku…you don't still…you know…?" Kagome asked, holding up her hand pointedly.

Miroku blinked, not really understanding her meaning at first but then he grinned. "No, no, I reserve all that for Sango now."

Sango blushed bright scarlet and pushed him lightly on the shoulder.

"Well, you go on and go meet your…friend…" Sango said, turning towards Kagome and smiling while giving Kagome a quick wink. "I'll see you later."

Kagome then headed into the forest. Was marriage really something to be that excited about? Kagome couldn't be excited about it unless it was Inu-Yasha. She couldn't see herself being so happy to marry someone else. She wondered what it'd be like…married to Inu-Yasha. He'd be with her all of the time and they wouldn't have to meet in secret. They could be together, really and not just a couple hours when they could sneak out. Kagome flushed and shook her head. She shouldn't be thinking about marriage! She had a war on her hands right now. She guessed that she should probably deal with that first. 

These thoughts were just running around in her head when she bumped into someone and she looked around to find herself in the clearing. Then she looked up to see that she had bumped right into Inu-Yasha.

"A little preoccupied?" Inu-Yasha asked, grinning.

Kagome smiled. "I guess so. Sango's getting married."

Inu-Yasha wrapped his arms around Kagome's waist., gently kissing her forehead. "Really? What would it be like do you think? If we could be like that I mean."

"I swear you must be reading my mind," Kagome murmured into his shoulder.

"So you were thinking about it too then?" Inu-Yasha asked, smiling.

Kagome nodded into his shoulder, blushing slightly so she was thankful her face was in his shoulder so he couldn't see. "It would be nice…" she murmured.

"We wouldn't have to keep everything a secret," Inu-Yasha mused, running his fingers absently through her soft hair. "And we'd get to see each other all the time."

Then he grinned, leaning down to whisper in her ear. "And you'd be all mine."

Kagome's blush deepened and she was again thankful that her head was buried in his haori.

"So-" Inu-Yasha began, but was cut off as he heard the sound of crunching twigs and branches around them. 

Kagome turned around and peered into the forest and stood in shock as the human soldiers entered the clearing from one side. She turned around slowly, as if afraid of what she might find, to see the demon army on the other side of them.

"Look! The princess! He's trying to hurt the princess!" Kagome heard a human soldier shout, pulling an arrow from the quiver upon his back and place it on his bow. "Shoot him!"

"No! Don't!" Kagome cried, quickly moving to stand in front of Inu-Yasha. Kagome shut her eyes tightly, expecting the cold, sharp tip of an arrow to pierce her skin any moment. When she didn't feel an arrowhead bite into her flesh, she opened her eyes tentatively to see the arrow stopped in midair. She glanced up at the armies to see that they were frozen as well. 

"Why? How?" Kagome breathed. They weren't even blinking. They were just standing there, motionless. Even the trees stopped blowing in the wind and the birds stopped singing. Everything around them was frozen.

A figure cloaked in a white baboon pelt stepped out from the cover of the trees and chuckled coldly. "Kagome-hime, hello. And Prince Inu-Yasha…Surprise surprise…"

Kagome glanced around her, surprised that he would do something to help them. "You froze everyone? Thank you…"

The man chuckled coldly again. "Oh, you won't be thanking me in a few moments…"

"Who are you?" Inu-Yasha demanded, his hand reaching for his sword.

"I feel rather hurt that you do not know who I am…" the figure said, feigning pain. He then pulled back the hood of his baboon pelt to reveal none other than Lord Naraku.

"Lord Naraku," Kagome muttered, her eyes narrowing.

"Oh no, no, no…" Naraku said, correcting. "That weak little human was gone a long time ago. You see, he became so greedy and power-hungry that demons devoured his soul, thus creating me, Naraku, yet, at the same time, not Naraku. He was a fool. As soon as I came to be, I sensed the Shikon Jewel at your castle, Kagome-hime, so I went over there to find out what I could to discover that your mother was purifying it."

"You killed them!" Kagome shouted, her eyes brimming with tears, though she still glared furiously.

"Kukukuku…" Naraku laughed. "No, no…I didn't kill your parents. The demons killed your father under the influence of the tainted Shikon no Tama. Granted, I told them how to get into the castle, but how exactly did I know how to get into the castle? Why, by watching none other than the little princess. 

"I took the jewel from your castle and gave it to the demons, who fed it hate and greed and finally got it into their heads to kill the human king so I told them how to get in. After they killed him, it was only a matter of taking the already-tainted jewel away from them and giving it to Shidosha. He fed even more hate into the jewel because he was furious with the demons for killing his father, and soon, the war began.

"After that, it was only a matter of passing the jewel back and forth between both kingdoms so that the jewel would become filled with hate and greed. But you were constantly trying to foil my plans princess. You convinced your mother to try to stop the war so I had to do something. I gave the jewel to Shidosha and convinced him that the dowager queen needed to die. So what did he do? Kukukuu…" Naraku laughed coldly.

"What?" Kagome breathed, feeling like the air had been knocked from her lungs. "He…didn't…You're lying!!" 

"Kukuku…Oh no, I'm surprisingly being very honest right now, something I rarely am," Naraku assured her. "He killed her. He killed his own mother using the tainted jewel. To think…his own mother…"

"You're lying!" Kagome repeated, collapsing to her knees. Her brother? He wouldn't kill his own mother! Tainted jewel or not!

"Kagome!" Inu-Yasha shouted, kneeling down beside her. 

"That's right…Your older brother killed her. I just handed him the jewel. The rest was all his doing. He crept into her room in the dead of night, a knife in his hands…" Naraku explained carefully, explaining everything with excruciating

Kagome was choked with sobs.

"Shut up you bastard!" Inu-Yasha shouted, seeing what he was doing to Kagome.

"This is all, of course, true. Oh, and your father, Inuyasha. I seemed to have forgot to explain how he came to end up six feet under. I knew your father was too reasonable, too soft. If ever peace were offered, he would take it, so he had to be killed. And who was the one to kill him? Why your older brother, Inu-Yasha. I gave him the jewel and he did the rest. Kukuku…What a beautiful jewel that can turn sons against their fathers…"

            "You're the one who killed them!" Inu-Yasha shouted. "You handed them the jewel! You tricked and deceived them all. If you hadn't given them the jewel to begin with, they would have never done anything so horrible. I'll make sure that you won't be able to do anything like this again!" Inu-Yasha shouted, unsheathing his sword and leaping towards Naraku.

"Kukuku…" Naraku laughed, and soon Inu-Yasha was frozen in the air. "Such a short-tempered one…"

"Why…?" Kagome asked, her teeth clenched.

"Why?" Naraku repeated. "Very simple of course. I wanted the jewel to be tainted with hate and greed. The more hate that is fed into the jewel, the more powerful it becomes. As soon as it was powerful enough, if they hadn't killed each other, I was going to take the jewel and kill both kings, taking both kingdoms for myself. That is still my plan, so give me the jewel."

Kagome pulled the jewel out of a fold in her kimono and held it in the palm of her hands for a moment.

Naraku looked surprised. "You…purified the jewel. No wonder I couldn't sense it…" He sighed. "Now you've just made it harder for me. I'll have to feed hate into it all over again now."

"You're not getting this!" Kagome shouted, standing now. "You won't ever have this again! You won't be able to kill anyone else or make someone kill another, not so long as I still breathe! Right now I am still alive so I won't let you take it!"

Naraku chuckled. "A simple problem to rectify, I assure you." He easily leapt forward, a sword held before him.

_'Shit…' _Inuyasha thought to himself, his jaw clenched together. He could still hear and see everything that passed between Naraku and Kagome and he could only assume that both armies could hear and see as well. He wondered what was running through their heads at this moment as they watched all of this. He didn't have much time to think about this though, since right now Kagome was in danger but he was stuck!

Kagome clutched the jewel to her chest. "NO!!" she shouted and suddenly, bright light surrounded her. The light quickly gathered around her and then shot at Naraku in a long, bright beam.

The beam hit Naraku in the chest and he was blown backwards. Landing easily on his feet, he chuckled. "I should've known that you'd have miko powers. I admit that I underestimated you, but be assured that it won't happen again." 

With that said, a huge dark purple aura surrounded him. Kagome coughed as she breathed in the purplish, wispy smoke.

"I _will_ have that jewel and I _will_ have both kingdoms," Naraku said, leaping forward again.

_'Move, dammit!' _Inu-Yasha willed his body. _'Move! She's in danger! Move!'_

_'Yes!'_ he thought as he felt he fingers on his left hand started to move. _'Damn it! This isn't enough! Move!'_

Inu-Yasha saw Naraku rushing towards Kagome and pushed himself even harder to move.

_'MOVE DAMMIT!' _Inu-Yasha thought to himself and before he knew what was happening, he fell out of the air to land with a thump on the ground.

"Kagome!" Inu-Yasha shouted as soon as he was on his feet. Then he leapt towards Naraku and slashed at his back with his sword. "You bastard! Don't you dare touch her!"

Naraku turned to face Inu-Yasha and chuckled coldly. "I see you've broken my little spell. I'm almost impressed. It takes a very strong will to break my spells." 

Inu-Yasha stepped back slightly as small wisps of purple smoke snaked from Naraku's fingers towards him. Then Inu-Yasha glared and leapt forward, deciding that he wasn't afraid of some smoke. As he came nearer to Naraku, his sensitive nose picked up the vile scent of the smoke and Inu-Yasha began to feel dizzy. His footsteps became clumsy and uncertain as he stumbled towards the blurry shape of Naraku, his vision clouded and his mind foggy.

Then Inu-Yasha swayed slightly before falling to the ground, intoxicated with the purple miasma.

Kagome was beginning to feel dizzy and was having trouble breathing. '_What is this stuff?_' Kagome asked herself groggily. Her vision soon became unfocused and she could just barely make out the fuzzy outline of Naraku coming towards her. She tried to move away to dodge his attack but found that she couldn't move. '_No…I have to move!_' Kagome told herself determinedly, trying to move again. She could make out Naraku's form getting closer and closer. '_Move!' _she told herself over and over again. '_You can't let him get the jewel! He can't win! I won't let him!'_ Just as Naraku was about to swipe at her with his sword, a bright light flashed out of the jewel, surrounding Kagome in a protective bubble of glowing white light. And she could suddenly breath again and her head cleared. The light tore through Naraku's purplish miasma. She held her hands up to shield her eyes from the bright glow and a beam of brilliant light shot out from her hands, striking Naraku in the chest. Naraku was blown back and landed on the ground with a loud thump. The miasma slowly thinned and as the bubble of light spread to engulf him, he disintegrated and all that was left of him was his white baboon pelt, which fluttered to land in a heap on the ground.

Inu-Yasha opened his eyes slowly, finding that he could breathe again and he could see and think clearly once more.

Kagome collapsed to her knees, the jewel still clutched in her hands.

"Kagome!" Inu-Yasha shouted, hurriedly making his way towards her. Just as she was about to fall to the ground, Inu-Yasha caught her. "Kagome? Are you alright?"

"The…jewel…He can't have it…I won't let him…" she murmured, her eyes closed as she tossed her head from side to side.

"He doesn't have it, Kagome. You did it, he's gone," Inu-Yasha told her.

Her eyes flickered open and she sat up, looking over at the white baboon pelt on the ground.

"Get your filthy hands off the princess!" one of the human soldiers shouted, reminding Kagome and Inu-Yasha that they still had a problem on their hands.  

" 'Filthy?'" one of the demon soldiers repeated. "You're the filthy ones!"

Kagome shakily stood up and looked around at them. They all looked ready to fight again. She glanced over at Shidosha, who had his head hung in shame. '_He must have been able to hear Naraku…He knows that he…'_ she told herself, finding it hard to swallow as she thought about all Naraku had told her. The soldiers all got ready to fight and the demons followed suit.

"No!" Kagome shouted. "Listen to me! Naraku started all this! He's gone now. We can't be tricked by him anymore. Why do you still wish to fight? Bloodshed will only lead to more bloodshed and nothing can be solved through it. Do you realize what you put your loved ones through? Everyday that you march out to battle, your children and your wives and your families pray and hope that you will come home alive. They fear that when the troops march back home, you won't be with them! I passed a battlefield the other day with dozens of bodies, human and demon alike, all covered in blood, their eyes staring lifelessly back at me. I never want to have to see so many dead bodies in one place ever again. Is that the kind of sights you like to see? Rotting corpses filling fields?"

"Don't listen to that demon lover!" one of the human soldiers shouted to his fellow soldiers.

"Demon lover, human lover; what's the difference?" Kagome asked. "They are one and the same to me. Look at the demons! They are only different because we see them as different. We only see them as different because they don't look like us. But, as much as you don't want to admit it, they are just like us."

"Demons are greedy!" a human soldier shouted, receiving growls from the demon troops.

"Demons are greedy?" Kagome asked incredulously. "Humans are greedy too. You all heard Naraku, I know that you did. He used to be a human and he was far more greedy than any five demons! Humans are all somewhat greedy, whether we like to admit it or not."

"Humans lie!" a demon soldier shouted.

"Demons lie as well and you know it," Inu-Yasha said. "My mother was given to the demon kingdom to ensure peace. After she died, we promised the human realm that we would uphold that peace, despite the fact that she was gone. We lied. We pretended to keep the peace, but I know that Sesshoumaru and father used to go to his study and plan ways to attack the human realm." 

"Demons are filthy cheaters! They used the jewel to win battles!" a soldier shouted, causing a cheer of agreement on the human side.

Kagome laughed bitterly. "Demons cheated using the jewel? Yes, they did, but we did too. They are no different from us. Some humans cheat just as some demons cheat. Some demons are good, just as some humans are good while others are bad. Listen to yourselves. You sound like a bunch of children! You're arguing and killing people just because they aren't like you. I'm different from you," Kagome said, pointing to a soldier standing towards the front of the large group. "Are you going to kill me? You're different from him; are you going to kill him too?"

"Why are we listening to some demon-loving wench?" a soldier in general garb asked, though now he was much more hesitant.

"General, watch yourself," Shidosha warned lightly. "She is still my sister."

"What are you waiting for?" Sesshoumaru barked to his troops. "Attack them! They won't die because you look at them!"

All of his troops hesitated, shifting uncertainly on their feet.

"You fools," Sesshoumaru said quietly. "You're going to listen to the crack-pot philosophy of some _human girl_?" 

Kagome glanced over at him and saw a purplish-red aura surrounding him. "Oh no…" she breathed. The jewel's effect on him wasn't wearing off. What had her aunt said? _'If his soul is too consumed by hate and evil, he won't ever return to the way he was. If the evil is not purged from his body, the evil will slowly consume him until he is no more.'_

"Sesshoumaru, listen to me," Kagome said, stepping towards him cautiously. "You need to let me purge the evil from your soul."

"Wench! Do you think I'm going to listen to you?" Sesshoumaru snapped.

"If I don't do this, you'll be consumed by the evil from the jewel just like Naraku was," Kagome told him, pleading for him to believe her.

"Stay back. I will not hesitate to kill you," Sesshoumaru warned, cracking his knuckles.

Kagome hesitated uncertainly for a moment, torn between moving forward and staying where she was. It was his life or hers. She really didn't want to sacrifice herself for this demon after all the things he had done but she glanced at Inu-Yasha. Sesshoumaru was still his brother. Even after her own brother had done all of those horrible things, she still loved him. He was still her brother after all and it was all because of the jewel.

"Kagome! Stay back!" Inu-Yasha called, seeing her eyes harden determinedly. He saw the human army tense, ready to strike to protect their princess if necessary.

She ignored him and took another tentative step forward and as she took step after step, her steps became more determined and resolute. She had to try to save him and only she had the power to do it at the moment. 

Before she could see what was about to happen, Sesshoumaru lunged forward, claws outstretched towards her.

"Kagome!" she heard Inu-Yasha shout behind her as he hurried forward.

Inu-Yasha wouldn't make it, Kagome realized. She had tried to save his brother the best she could but she wasn't able to. She squeezed her eyes shut, preparing herself for the painful blow his claws would give her, but when she felt no claws pierce her skin, she opened her eyes in time to see Sesshoumaru's purplish aura grow to entirely engulf him in purplish miasma. When the miasma cleared, he was gone.

Kagome collapsed to her knees and Inu-Yasha knelt by her. 

"I'm sorry…I tried…" Kagome whispered, staring at the place where Sesshoumaru had been standing.

"I know you did and I thank you for it. That wasn't my brother anyway. My brother was gone," Inu-Yasha told her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. They both stood to see the demon army shifting even more uncertainly. They didn't know what to do since their leader had just died.

Then the demon general turned to Inu-Yasha. "Awaiting your orders, your majesty," the general said, standing in attention.

"W-what?" Inu-Yasha stuttered, looking around to see all of the other demon soldiers looking at him expectantly. "No, no…"

"Your older brother has died so the throne is passed down to you, your highness," the general told him, smiling kindly.

Inu-Yasha looked around him indecisively, not really sure of what to do now. Then, Shidosha stepped forward and held out his hand. Inu-Yasha glanced at both armies to see all of the soldiers looking relieved, so he shook Shidosha's hand.

Inu-Yasha pulled Kagome off to the side as the demon army and the human army moved forward to shake hands and greet each other as friends.

"What'll happen to the jewel now?" Inu-Yasha asked, looking out over the armies and watching them apologize and introduce each other. He smiled as he watched it. Kagome's dream had come true and now the kingdoms would be at peace.

Kagome shrugged. "I suppose I'll just have to keep it."

"Until you have a daughter to pass it down to?" Inu-Yasha asked, grinning.

Kagome blushed. "I suppose so. But you know, Aunt Kaede said that the safest place for it would be inside me and to do that I'd have to make a wish, one that won't harm anyone else of course."

"Well, what'll you wish for then?" Inu-Yasha asked. Her wish for peace had already been granted so what more could she want?

Kagome thought for a moment and then smiled. "Do you remember about seven years ago when we lay right there," she said, nodding towards a spot in the center of the clearing, "in the grass and we were looking up at a bright blue sky and we asked each other what we'd wish for if we were given just one wish?"

Inu-Yasha smiled. "Of course I remember it. You said you would wish to become a half demon just so I wouldn't be alone anymore. That's why I always loved you so much. You were always thinking of others before yourself."

Kagome nodded and held up the Shikon no Tama. She smiled and leaned forward, whispering softly in his ear, "Never alone…" and then she stepped back. She closed her eyes and held the jewel out before her. Within moments, it began to glow, casting bright light upon her that grew to encompass her entirely. The glow began to slowly die down as the jewel was drawn into her chest, right where her heart was. After the light dissipated completely, Kagome was still standing there, looking the same as always, but with two dog ears on the top of her head. (A/N-I was thinking about making her hair turn white and her eyes turn gold too but I decided not to. I don't know why…)

Inu-Yasha just stood there and gaped at her for a moment before smiling and wrapping his arms around her. Now he really wasn't the only person in "his place." He wouldn't be alone again, although, ever since he had met Kagome so long ago, he hadn't been alone. So long as she was there, he wasn't alone. Never alone…

The next day, peace negotiations were opened between the two kingdoms and King Inu-Yasha and other demon lords came to the mortal realm for meetings with Shidosha and the human lords. They agreed to have peace between the kingdoms and the lands celebrated. The war was over and some of the more fortunate wives and children got their husbands and sons and brothers and fathers back. Others mourned for their losses but were happy for peace for they knew that peace was what the ones they lost had wanted and had fought for.

Yes, life was good again, Kagome decided, as she walked down the hall while Inu-Yasha and all of the lords were in the meeting chamber, discussing future plans, etc.

Kagome stopped short when she saw her brother sitting on the main staircase, just staring off into space. Kagome sat down on the stairs beside him and neither of them said anything for long moments.

"I really did," Shidosha said finally.

Kagome glanced at him and knew what he was talking about when she saw the pained look in his eyes. "I know," she said quietly.

"I really did," Shidosha repeated bitterly, shaking his head. "How could I? How could I do something so horrible? I don't deserve to be living now for all the sins I've committed."

"Don't think that," Kagome said kindly. "You did some bad things, I agree but that was because of Naraku and the jewel."

"That's no excuse," Shidosha said between clenched teeth.

Kagome nodded. "It isn't really but at the same time, it is. While you shouldn't have used the jewel in the first place, you didn't know what it would do to you at the time and by the time you figured out what it did, it was just too late. The jewel is a good and, at the same time, a horrible thing. Something so small as a drop of greed or hate in the purpose for using the jewel can change the entire outcome of how the jewel affects the person. It's a strange thing. But you didn't realize any of this so I forgive you and I think the gods will forgive you too."

Shidosha smiled at his little sister and draped an arm over her shoulders. "Thank you, little sister. You have made me feel worlds better. Mind you, not entirely better, but better nonetheless. And thank you for arguing with me all of those times about what I did. It began to make me doubt some things and I apologize for getting so angry with you. I should've realized you were trying to help, and, in the end, you really did. You saved both kingdoms from making terrible mistakes."

Kagome sighed, leaning towards him to rest her head on his shoulder. "I'm just glad it's all over."

Shidosha smiled. "Me too." Then he looked down at Kagome. "You've grown so much. But I still get to call you little sister of course. Even after you're married I get to call you little sister. It's my special privilege as a big brother."

Kagome blushed and then glanced up at him. "I-we have your blessing then?" she asked.

"Of course you do," Shidosha assured her.

Kagome grinned and kissed her brother on the cheek. Then she stood and ran down the stairs excitedly. At the bottom of the stairs, Kagome began to run off down the hall at top speed until she ran into an advisor turning the corner carrying a large stack of paperwork. The pieces of rice paper went flying everywhere and the advisor clutched his head in agony.

"Sorry!" Kagome called over her shoulder as she continued to dash down the hall.

Shidosha chuckled. Some thing just didn't change.

There a huge celebration to commemorate the peace between the two realms. Although, the truth was, it was a joint celebration. It was partially to celebrate the peace and to celebrate Inu-Yasha and Kagome's engagement. 

"There…That wasn't too complicated, now was it?" Inu-Yasha asked her at the banquet, grinning.

Kagome snorted. "Not at all," she agreed sarcastically. Then she smiled. "But it all turned out alright in the end, I suppose. Things were so much simpler when we were little kids. Do you ever wish we could go back to that?"

"All the time," Inu-Yasha told her. "But who says we can't go back sometimes?" he whispered, grinning as he stood up and held out his hand to her.

Kagome smiled and took his hand and they hurried out of the banquet hall. Some lords and ladies glanced up and smiled, watching the couple run out of the banquet hall. Kagome and Inu-Yasha ran out of the castle and into the Between Forest heading towards the clearing; the clearing they would forever call their own.       

  
  


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**A/N-Good gods…*Blinks* It's over! My story's over! *Sobs* But   
I don't want it to be over! I'll miss it! Oh, but turns out, I actually like Shidosha in this chapter. He was nice. For a change…Sorry, I didn't have time to read this chapter for grammatical or spelling errors so if there are any, my bad! I just really need to hurry so I can finish my project. They're worth a bunch of points so my grade kinda depends on these projects ^.^; What a reassuring thought ne?**

**Review Responses:**

**I don't really have time to do these but I'll do them anyway since it's the last chapter.**

**Special thank yous:**

**Slycat: I didn't actually look through all the pages of reviews but I think you reviewed every chapter of this fic so thanks ^.^ I'm glad you stuck with me here. **

**youkai chick supreme: I think you reviewed every chapter of this fic as well. I didn't look through all of the pages but you reviewed chapter 19 and chapter 1 so I'm going by that ^.^ At least I know you've been here since the beginning. Thanks for that. It must mean I've done something right in this story ^.^ And thanks for all the death threats *Sniff* They made me feel so loved ^.^**

**It was great that I could always look forward to both of your reviews whenever I posted a new chapter ^.^**

**Now the other, though no less important, review responses:**

**Kagome15-Thank you ^.^**

**Cute But Psycho-Wow! You do? This is the first time I've talked to someone who wasn't one of my friends that lives in Washington on ff.net! Cool ^.^ So where in Washington? Oh, and thank you for complimenting my fluff ^.^ I tried real hard to get that in there. There was some in this chapter, didya see it? **

**Lylli Riddle-You have very good English. Did you see the fluffiness in this chapter? Didya? ^.^**

**AoiTsuki-I'm glad you love it. I hope you still love it after the ending. I thought it was a very good ending myself ^.^**

**Tamababymiko-chan-Yes, Nuriko is very cool ^.^ I liked when s/he said that he had the spirit of a woman. ^.^ Hehe…No, not doomed, just in deep trouble.**

**midnightpheniox-Wow, thanks! I feel so honored to receive one of your rare reviews ^.^ I'm glad you like it.**

**DragonGlare-Yup, the last chapter right here. A long one too ^.^ Oh and no worries, I'm working to think up a sequel right now and I think I've got a pretty good idea.**

**Paul Powell-Yup, working on an idea right now as we speak…err…type…**

**Ame Tenshi-Well now you know ^.^**

**reynamangga-Here is your answer: Yes, I will/did kill Naraku ^.~**

**Geminidragon-And here is the answer to your question: Both! ^.^**

**Thanks to all the reviewers. You guys were great ^.^ I'm working on coming up with a sequel right now and I've got a pretty good idea I think but I'm still open to other suggestions. If I like one enough I might use it. So IM me or email me if you have any suggestions at all.**

**Fare Thee Well,**

**YoukaiTaiji-ya**


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